【Animal Modeling】-Comparison of Histological Observation of Different Sectioning Methods and Staining Methods of Rat Coccyx Intervertebral Disc

  Objective To compare the advantages and disadvantages of different slicing methods and staining methods of rat tail intervertebral disc, and lay a theoretical foundation for the corresponding clinical diagnosis and experimental research.

  Methods The caudal discs of SD rats were collected, made into frozen sections and paraffin sections, and then stained with hematoxylin-eosin (HE staining), safranin-fast green, Masson staining, toluidine blue, and Immunofluorescence staining of type I collagen (COL-I), type II collagen (COL-III) and glycosaminoglycan (GAG), and the histomorphology and protein expression of each layer of the intervertebral disc were compared and observed Case.

  Results Among the staining methods, HE staining of paraffin sections could clearly show the layers of tissue; Masson staining could clearly show the annulus fibrosus and nucleus pulposus; Safranin-fast green staining and toluidine blue staining could better show the layers of cartilage and the Subchondral bone structure. In the immunofluorescence staining of frozen sections, the collagen in the annulus fibrosus tissue was mostly COL-I, and the collagen in the nucleus pulposus tissue was mostly COL-II, while GAG was mostly secreted by the nucleus pulposus cells and nucleus pulposus-like cells.

  CONCLUSIONS: HE staining and Masson staining are used to observe the tissue layers of the intervertebral disc, and paraffin section is better than frozen section. When the expression and distribution of various proteins in the intervertebral disc are observed, immunofluorescence staining is used, and frozen section is better than paraffin section.