[Histonet] What is the best xylene substitute for histology?

[John Kiernan]

I liked terpineol (mixed isomers). Smells nice and doesn't harden tissues, but I see that it has now become pretty expensive.
Mineral oil USP (also called liquid paraffin and mineral oil, heavy) is OK and cheaper than xylene, but it's not miscible with ethanol. You have to dehydrate specimens in  isopropanol and have the oil warmer than 44oC.
Tert-butanol is miscible with water, ethanol and paraffin; it's somewhat more expensive than xylene and must be used warm because it freezes at 26oC. It's often used for plant histology.

A recently proposed safe and economical alternative clearing agent for paraffin embedding is coconut oil, but it causes much more shrinkage than xylene and also induces ugly artifacts (in rats' prostates) if the clearing time is less than 4 hours. See OA Bright et al. 2024. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 72(4): 233-243. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ebenezer-Senu/publication/379429541_Clearing_Properties_Between_Coconut_Oil_and_Xylene_in_Histological_Tissue_Processing/links/661013eb2034097c54f61dbd/Clearing-Properties-Between-Coconut-Oil-and-Xylene-in-Histological-Tissue-Processing.pdf

Just a few thoughts!  John Kiernan.
London, Canada
________________________________
From: Kate Bummer via Histonet <histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
Sent: June 7, 2024 10:52 AM
To: histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu <histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
Cc: Kate Bummer <bumkat0703 at gmail.com>
Subject: [Histonet] What is the best xylene substitute for histology?

Hello Histonetters

I'm hoping I can get some recommendations for the best xylene substitute for histology that could be used in the following:

  *   Tissue processor
  *   Deparaffinization
  *   Coverslipper
  *   Mounting media that works with that particular xylene substitute

Thank you for your help!

Kate
SeqMatic
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