EFFECT OF THE STATE OF BLOOD-CELLS ON CYT OCHEMICAL REACTIONS

Using luminescence microspectroscopy, it was shown that the cytochemic al reaction between acridine orange and nucleic acids of fixed blood c ells in smears depends on the physical state of these cells during the study. On fixation, the cellular membrane transforms into a semiperme able envelope thus causing an increase in size and light scattering of cells under the action of osmotic pressure of solvents used to wash t he preparations. As a consequence, the migration of energy from monome rs to dimers increases, which should be taken into account when interp reting the data on the cytochemical reaction.