Silver Nanoparticles as a Novel Tissue Preservative: A Comparative Study with 10% Neutral Buffered Formalin

Tissue preservation plays an essential role in biomedical research and histopathological applications. Traditional methods, despite their efficiency, are associated with compromised long-term tissue integrity and probable ecotoxicities. This study explores the application of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), known for their antimicrobial properties, as a potential tissue preservative. In this work, AgNPs were synthesized via a chemical reduction method. Heart, liver, and kidney tissues were obtained from BALB/c mice and preserved using 10% neutral buffered formalin (NBF) and AgNPs solution for 72 h. Preservation efficiency was assessed by quantifying and measuring DNA and RNA integrity, evaluating protein stability, and conducting histopathological examinations. This study aimed to compare the performance of AgNPs against 10% NBF across these parameters to determine their suitability as an alternative fixative. Our results showed that AgNPs solution maintained consistent DNA, RNA, and protein concentrations/quality across all tissues over 72 h, whereas formalin treatment led to degradation over time. Conversely, 10% NBF demonstrated better preservation of tissue morphology. These results highlighted the differential strengths of each fixative, with AgNPs excelling in molecular preservation and NBF in structural integrity. Overall, AgNPs exhibited superior qualitative and quantitative preservation of nucleic acids and intracellular proteins, indicating their potential as an alternative to formalin for molecular testing. Despite their demonstrated efficacy in biomolecular preservation, further studies are needed to optimize tissue morphology preservation.