Preferential histochemical staining of protoplasmic and fibrous astrocytes in rat CNS with GFAP antibodies using different fixatives

Serial sections of rat brain and spinal cord were fixed in either acid-alcohol or 4% paraformaldehyde, and stained for visualization of astrocytes using GFAP antibodies. With paraformaldehyde, GFAP-positive astrocytes were visualized almost exclusively in the grey matter of all above tissues. In sharp contrast, acid-alcohol treatment gave intensely stained GFAP-containing astrocytes in the white matter. Since fibrous astrocytes are mainly located in the white matter and protoplasmic astrocytes are located in the grey matter, it is concluded that acid-alcohol is a good fixative for fibrous astrocytes while paraformaldehyde is a better fixative for protoplasmic astrocytes.