Re: zamboni vs straight paraformaldehyde

From:Chris van der Loos

Hi David,
Perhaps as John Kiernan said "it could all be histomythology". Very likely 
there is no difference in staining result between 4% parafomaldehyde- and 
Zamboni-fixation. However, in a practical way there is. As far as I know 4% 
paraformaldehyde in PBS should be freshly made up. Weighing, handling and 
dissolving (60C) the harmful PFA powder is quite a pain. In contrast, the 
Zamboni-fixative can be made up in a large volume, stored at room 
temperature and seems to work for ever!
In case somebody want to test 4% paraformaldehyde in PBS, here is the 
formula of Zamboni:

Distilled water							800 ml
NaOH								4.3 gram
Paraformaldehyde						20 gram
NaH2PO4.H2O						18.8 gram
Saturated picric acid solution (double filtered)			150 ml

Dissolve the NaOH first, then add paraformaldehyde, and stir until 
completely dissolved.
Add the sodium dihydrogen phosphate, and stir until completely dissolved.
Add the saturated picric acid solution.
Check and/or adjust pH to 7.3 with 2 N NaOH.
Bring volume to 1 liter with distilled water.


Chris van der Loos
Academical Medical Center
Dept. of Cardiovascular Pathology
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

David Van Reyk wrote:
 >Date: 8 Jan 2003 05:30:54 -0600
 >From: David Van Reyk 
 >Subject: zamboni vs straight paraformaldehyde
 >happy new year to all,
 >[I think my firts attempt at posting this inquiry failed]
 >we have been provided with an immunohistochemical protocol for forzen 
sections
 >that requires Zamboni's fixative. In our lab we normally use 4%
 >paraformaldehyde. The protocol mentions that zamboni's is used to keep the
 >sections from falling off the slides. Is this the only reason Zamboni's 
would
 >be used over straight paraformaldehyde or are there other advantages.
 >Dr David van Reyk,
 >Dept Health Sciences,University of Technology,Sydney,
 >PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW 2007, AUSTRALIA




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