Simple method for the perfusion-fixation of adult bovine brain.
It is widely accepted that the vascular perfusion of a tissue leads to its optimal fixation for ultrastructural examination, but the technique has been applied with little success in large animals such as cattle. This paper describes a simple and highly reproducible method for the perfusion-fixation of adult bovine brain. The carotid arteries are cannulated and the perfusate is introduced by means of a peristaltic pump. The inclusion of toluidine blue in the fixative makes it possible to assess the success of the technique, and prevents the costly and time-consuming processing of material which is suboptimally fixed. The method is potentially valuable for the examination of a wide range of neurological conditions in large domestic animals at an ultrastructural level in optimally fixed material.
Simmons
M M
MM
Biochemistry, Pathology and Parasitology Department, Central Veterinary Laboratory, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey.
Blamire
I W
IW
Austin
A R
AR
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002417:Cattle; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D004396:Coloring Agents; D016643:Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform / Q000473:pathology; D006652:Histological Techniques; D008854:Microscopy, Electron / Q000379:methods; D010477:Perfusion / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014048:Tolonium Chloride
D004396:Coloring Agents; D014048:Tolonium Chloride