Effect of bromocriptine on the larval skin of the green toad, Bufo viridis viridis Leurenti

In the premetamorphic larval green toad, B. viridis viridis, as in other anurans, the skin is made Lip of a fibrous dermis and an epidermis of stratified epithelium. The effects of bromocriptine,,in antiprolactin drug On the premetamorphic skin of B. viridis viridis. was examined. Bromocriptine. dissolved in rearing water at four different concentrations, induced a number of changes, in tile skin of treated tadpoles. In rough sequence of apperance, these changes include: retraction of the melanocyte dendrites, synchronous burst of the apical Vesicles Of tile superficial epithelial cells, gradual disappearance of the melanosoes from the epithelial cells and widening of the intercellular spaces. fit addition, macrophages appeared in the superficial dermis amongst the retracted melanocytes. White crystals were observed on the skin Surface and similar crystals were ingested by the macrophages. Prolonged treatment with bromocriptine resulted in hypertrophy and extraction of some epidermal cells. Deep melanocytes of tile mescinerics were not affected by bromo-criptine-treatment indicating that the drug did not penetrate deep into the tadpole tissue. Whether the macrophages observed in the dermis Were recruited from deeper tissue or were converted converted melanocytes is another issue in need of study.