Comparison of different fixatives effects in histochemical stainings of peripheral nerve tissue.

A pathological condition in the peripheral nerve tissue, which provides the connection between the organism and the external environment, negatively affects the standard of living. The nerve tissue histotechnology is of serious importance both for scientific studies and for clinical diagnosis. The fixation, which is one of the leading procedures for histological examination of tissues, aims to preserve tissue morphology. Another essential part of the histological examination is staining process. This study, it was aimed to determine the fixative that provides optimal histological appearance in peripheral nerve tissue. Therefore, various histochemical stainings of tissues fixed with some fixatives used in practice were compared. Sciatic nerves from each rat (n=7) used in the study were fixed with different fixatives and histochemical staining was performed. In histological examination, cellular (nucleus-cytoplasm) and intercellular morphological details, staining intensity and distribution were evaluated. At the end of the study, formaldehyde was found to be the most ideal fixing agent for all stains. Although Bouin and Carnoy fixatives differed according to the staining type, their fixation quality was similar in general. Glutaraldehyde did not give as good results as other fixatives in all stainings. This study is an important technical reference for clinical and experimental studies.