HUMAN ADENOHYPOPHYSEAL QUANTITATIVE HISTOCHEMICAL CELL CLASSIFICATION .2. EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTS OF 2 FIXATIVES AND POSTMORTEM INTERVALS

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 103  (12) , 621-623
Abstract
Quantitative cell counts on specific pituitary areas were done on differentially stained adenohypophyseal sections obtained at autopsy (4-22 h postmortem). Specific criteria formulated from previous studies were used to identify functional classes of secretory cells. The effects of 2 fixatives, calcium acetate-buffered formaldehyde solution (CAF) and formol sublimate (FS), on morphologic identification were compared. CAF solution is superior in identifying gonadotrophs and prolactin cells morphologically. FS is superior in identifying the other cell types morphologically. Approximately 10-15% more cells could be classified by fixing with FS rather than CAF. The effect of postmortem autolysis was minimal. The only statistically significant (P < 0.025) effect was the presence of a higher percentage of disrupted unclassifiable cells in CAF-fixed basophil areas at 12-24 h than was present at 0-12 h.