title: Comparing the efficacy of coconut oil and xylene as a clearing agent in the histopathology laboratory.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The commonly used clearing agent, xylene is supposed to be highly toxic and carcinogenic. As previous research studies have shown the effectiveness of different vegetable oils as clearants, this study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of coconut oil.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two equal halves of 60 soft tissue specimens were processed simultaneously in xylene and coconut oil as clearing agents. The Xylene-treated specimens (XY-S) and Coconut oil-treated specimens (CO-S) were checked for gross and histological features and comparison was done between the two groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant shrinkage was noted in XY-S compared to that in CO-S. No difference was found in either of the sections when checked for cellular details and staining quality. Morphometrically, there was significant reduction in the mean cell area in XY-S compared to that in CO-S.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Coconut oil may be substituted for the highly hazardous xylene as a clearing agent without compromising the quality of histological details.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry, Chamrajnagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Chamrajnagar, India.
authors.forename: Wajid
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sermadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology, Yenepoya Dental College, Yenepoya University, Mangalore, India.
authors.forename: Sudeendra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prabhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology, S.D.M. College of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Dharwad, India.
authors.forename: Swetha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Acharya
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, USM-KLE International Medical School, Belgaum, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Sb
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Javali
keywords: Clearing agent; coconut oil; histopathology laboratory; vegetable oils