[Histonet] Re: formalin substitutes - tissue structure

[Robert Richmond]

Yak-Nam Wang at the University of Washington (in the state of
Washington USA) asks:

>>We have been obtaining formalin fixed human skin and fat samples from
several companies. We use stereological methods to make tissue measurements
such as dermal thickness and adipose cell size from sections stained with a
variety of basic stains. However,  there is now another company that we
would like to do obtain more tissue from but they can only provide tissue
fixed with a formalin alternative such as FineFix or Prefer. Measurement
data collected from formalin and formalin alternative fixed tissue would be
used together if we obtained tissue from this other company.<<

Depends on whether you're doing science or not. Prefer is Anatech's
glyoxal-based fixative, and they can probably offer you some guidance.
Glyoxal is an aldehyde fixative. It may well be interchangeable for
this purpose.

FineFix is a secret formula by a company I never heard of, with a
dysfunctional Web site. The fixative appears to be ethanol, which
however is added by the user and is not in the formula. I couldn't
find an MSDS. The limited information available suggests that this
process may depend on microwave fixation.

John Kiernan on this list has expressed many times, much more
eloquently than I can, his opinion of doing science with secret
ingredients.

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Knoxville TN