Objective: To compare the transparent effects of six optical clearing methods on rat brain tissue blocks.
METHODS: The brains of 14 SD rats were selected for transparency treatment using iDISCO, SeeDB, CUBIC, SCALEVIEW-A2, CLARITY-CUBIC and Passive-CLARITY methods.
Results: The transparent gray value of PBS in the control group was 13.031 ± 0.586, iDISCO, SeeDB, CUBIC, SCALEVIEW-A2, CLARITY-CUBIC, passive- CLARITY were 6.447 ± 0.574, 11.690 ± 0.909, 2.318 ± 0.986, 8.118 ± 1.026, and 8, respectively. ±0.384, 4.198±0.182, except the SeeDB group (P=0.185), all the other groups were significantly different from the PBS group (P<0.01), and CUBIC was significantly different from each group (P<0.01). After transparent treatment, the area changes of iDISCO, SeeDB, CUBIC, SCALEVIEW-A2, CLARITY-CUBIC, Passive-CLARITY were (-30.02±2.39)%, (19.74±4.09)%, (14.7±3.92)%, and (10.7), respectively. ±5.55)%, (23.01 ±4.19)%, (66.51 ± 5.68)%, and the area changes in each group were significantly different from those in the iDISCO group and the Passive-CLARITY group (P<0.01).
Conclusion: Except for SeeDB, all the methods in each group can achieve the transparent effect. The CUBIC method is better than the other groups in the transparent effect of the rat brain tissue block.