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[Improvement program on pretreatment of acid decalcified tissue in hematoxylin-eosin staining]
Li-Hong Yao1, Mei Zhang1, Mei-Chang Huang1
1State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & Dept. of Pathology, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Objective:
To explore the treatment conditions of acid decalcified specimens and improve the poor quality of sections and unclear structure of hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining caused by the change in pH in tooth and hard tissue after acid decalcification.
Methods:
A total of 20 cases of oral pathological specimens that contain hard tissues were decalcified and treated with routine treatment, concentrated ammonia water immersion treatment, and saturated lithium carbonate solution immersion treatment. The quality and HE staining effects of hard tissue sections treated with different methods were compared.
Results:
Compared with routine treatment, lithium carbonate saturated solution treatment showed complete sections. Hematoxylin is strongly stained, the nucleus is clear, and the cytoplasm is bright.
Conclusions:
Soaking acid decalcified specimens in lithium carbonate saturated solution before embedding in dehydration can neutralize the acidic environment of the tissue. The quality of sections and HE staining effect are improved and are suitable for the pretreatment of acid decalcified tissue samples of oral pathology.
