IT HAS BEEN observed that when toluidine blue, a quinone-imine group histologic stain,1 is injected intravenously into dogs it preferentially concentrates in the parathyroid glands, panceas, and gastric corpus, imparting a distinct coloration to these organs.2
Presented in this paper is a study of the intravenous and oral use of this dye in a series of dogs. The results of this investigation and the possible clinical implications of this study will be discussed.
Methods and Materials
Twenty-two mongrel dogs were anesthetized with intravenously administered sodium pentobarbital (30 mg per Kg of body weight).Toluidine blue (Toluidine Blue O) was prepared as a 1% solution in normal saline. The solution was then filtered through filter paper and autoclaved at 105 C for ten minutes.In ten animals, the dye solution (10 mg/kg of body weight) was injected intravenously over a one-minute period. In ten animals, the dye solution (10