Chlorhexidine solutions in histological and histochemical techniques1

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Abstract
Chlorhexidine solutions have been tested to determine their usefulness as media for the transport of biopsy specimens for diagnosis in order to facilitate the use of cold microtome sectioning and enzyme histochemical techniques in routine histopathological diagnostic practice. The drug was chosen for its antibacterial and protein “preserving” capacities. Tissue morphology, chemical components and enzyme activities were found to be retained well in specimens from human gingiva when stored in a cold solution, pH 7.2, containing 2.2 mM chlorhexidine gluconate, 0.19 M cacodylate buffer and 7.5 % polyvinylpyrrolidone. The procedure allowed reliable enzyme activity evaluations to be performed under the light microscope within 48 hours after excision of the tissues. Fresh frozen tissues served as controls. In an additional electron microscopic study, morphology of the cells was found to be reasonably well preserved after transport in the solution.