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Xylene versus Isopropanol for Paraffin Wax Processing of Lung Tissue

Wang, Qi LU ; Gu, Runchuan LU orcid ; Olm, Franziska LU orcid ; Bèchet, Nicholas Burdon LU and Lindstedt, Sandra LU (2024) In Applied Sciences (Switzerland) 14(5).
Abstract

The microscopic observation of lung tissue is challenging due to its fragile nature. Xylene and isopropanol are common tissue-clearing reagents used before paraffin embedding, yet no studies have compared these two reagents in lung tissue processing. Due to the well-known health risks xylene could introduce to operators, as well as its environmental hazards, it has long been desired that a less harmful alternative to xylene with the same staining effects be introduced. Thus, we systematically assessed the efficacy of isopropanol as a substitution for xylene. Lung tissue obtained from diseased donors and explanted lungs from recipients were processed simultaneously using either xylene or isopropanol prior to paraffin embedding. Scoring... (More)

The microscopic observation of lung tissue is challenging due to its fragile nature. Xylene and isopropanol are common tissue-clearing reagents used before paraffin embedding, yet no studies have compared these two reagents in lung tissue processing. Due to the well-known health risks xylene could introduce to operators, as well as its environmental hazards, it has long been desired that a less harmful alternative to xylene with the same staining effects be introduced. Thus, we systematically assessed the efficacy of isopropanol as a substitution for xylene. Lung tissue obtained from diseased donors and explanted lungs from recipients were processed simultaneously using either xylene or isopropanol prior to paraffin embedding. Scoring of the overall staining quality after H&E staining, along with the ease of sectioning, was compared systematically. Fluorescent staining was performed to explore alveolar morphology and the overall lectin fluorescence signal between groups. To understand differences in antibody staining, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of smooth muscle actin (SMA) and elastin was examined. No difference was observed with regard to ease of sectioning, staining quality, alveolar circularity, alveolar wall thickness or the SNR between slides processed with xylene or isopropanol. This study demonstrated comparable outcomes of isopropanol and xylene in lung tissue processing, suggesting isopropanol as a more favorable, operator- and environment-friendly substitute for xylene with regards to tissue processing.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
environment influence, health risk, isopropanol, lung tissue, paraffin wax processing, staining effects, systematic evaluation, xylene
in
Applied Sciences (Switzerland)
volume
14
issue
5
article number
1726
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85192462657
ISSN
2076-3417
DOI
10.3390/app14051726
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
92814215-1d7b-4a86-9046-405d6d1885b3
date added to LUP
2025-01-13 15:00:26
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:03:12
@article{92814215-1d7b-4a86-9046-405d6d1885b3,
  abstract     = {{<p>The microscopic observation of lung tissue is challenging due to its fragile nature. Xylene and isopropanol are common tissue-clearing reagents used before paraffin embedding, yet no studies have compared these two reagents in lung tissue processing. Due to the well-known health risks xylene could introduce to operators, as well as its environmental hazards, it has long been desired that a less harmful alternative to xylene with the same staining effects be introduced. Thus, we systematically assessed the efficacy of isopropanol as a substitution for xylene. Lung tissue obtained from diseased donors and explanted lungs from recipients were processed simultaneously using either xylene or isopropanol prior to paraffin embedding. Scoring of the overall staining quality after H&amp;E staining, along with the ease of sectioning, was compared systematically. Fluorescent staining was performed to explore alveolar morphology and the overall lectin fluorescence signal between groups. To understand differences in antibody staining, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of smooth muscle actin (SMA) and elastin was examined. No difference was observed with regard to ease of sectioning, staining quality, alveolar circularity, alveolar wall thickness or the SNR between slides processed with xylene or isopropanol. This study demonstrated comparable outcomes of isopropanol and xylene in lung tissue processing, suggesting isopropanol as a more favorable, operator- and environment-friendly substitute for xylene with regards to tissue processing.</p>}},
  author       = {{Wang, Qi and Gu, Runchuan and Olm, Franziska and Bèchet, Nicholas Burdon and Lindstedt, Sandra}},
  issn         = {{2076-3417}},
  keywords     = {{environment influence; health risk; isopropanol; lung tissue; paraffin wax processing; staining effects; systematic evaluation; xylene}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Applied Sciences (Switzerland)}},
  title        = {{Xylene versus Isopropanol for Paraffin Wax Processing of Lung Tissue}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app14051726}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/app14051726}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}