X-Message-Number: 10856
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 20:50:38 -0800 (PST)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: microwaves versus freezing

Authors
  Shahed AR.  Werchan PM.  Stavinoha WB.
Institution
  Operational Technologies Corporation, Armstrong Laboratory, Brooks AFB, TX,
  USA.
Title
  Differences in acetylcholine but not choline in brain
  tissue fixed by freeze fixation or
  microwave heating.
Source
  Methods & Findings in Experimental & Clinical Pharmacology.  18(6):349-51,
  1996 Jul-Aug.
Abstract
  Among the many rapidly metabolized compounds in the brain,
  acetylcholine is one of the most challenging to sample effectively due to its
  rapid synthesis, degradation and sequestration. To ascertain problems that
  invalidate sampling procedures two methods of tissue
  fixation, microwave heat inactivation and freeze
  fixation, were used for obtaining mice and rat
  brain samples, respectively. The data show that
  acetylcholine levels obtained by microwave fixation were
  much higher than those obtained by freeze fixation. Choline
  levels were not affected by the fixation method used.
  Microwave fixation results in more accurate assessment of
  acetylcholine levels than the freeze fixation method, even
  though the tissue fixation time was less
  than 1 s in both methods, because tissue integrity is
  maintained in the microwave fixation, but not during freeze
  fixation.

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