Joe,
I worked with Ben Manuel formerly of AFIP, and he did a two step addition.  
Sometimes toenails can get kind of thick and the chitin needs softening 
(diabetes ect.), so we used the AFIP (green book-it's not in the new one) 
recipe for chitin softening, but we modified it to use Zinc Chloride instead 
of Mercuric Chloride.  We soaked the toenails after grossing it.  Several 
hours normally did well.  The H&E and PAS-f were not compromised.

Ben used to cut his sections on re-treated adhesive slides (we buy "Plus" 
slides, then coat them again with diluted poly-L-lysine from Sigma) and he 
would place his slides in a forced air dryer flat, with A SEMI-WET PAPER 
TOWEL ON TOP OF THE SLIDES.  When the paper towel and the slides were dry, 
we deparaffinized them ect.  If the toenail still started falling off, we 
would not dilute the Sigma solution and coat the slide using a cotton tip 
applicator, let it dry, and rock-on.

If microtomy was still an issue, face the block, and soften the face with 
"Chitin softening solution."  We pour it into a screw-cap cup, then wash it 
and cool it again on ice.  I've heard of Fred's suggestion from several 
techs, so I'm sure it works well too.  However, because we cut our IHC on 
the same ice, we don't add anything to the water.  We just haven't tested 
it.

Zinc chloride makes administrators cringe, and the paper towel in an oven 
could be problematic.  Good luck with your toenails.  We hate them!

And that was an awesome set-up for a question.

>From: "Fred Underwood" 
>To: , 
>Subject: Re: [BULK] - [Histonet] Working with toenails
>Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 12:41:36 -0400
>
>Liquid fabric softener works well.  My ice tray is actually a frozen
>block of 0.2% fabric softener.  I have mentioned this before, but I have
>found titebond (a commercial wood glue, use a 5% solution) is the "bomb"
>for adhering hard tissues to slides.
>
>Fred
>
> >>> "Joe Nocito"  10/26/04 09:45AM >>>
>Hey everyone,
>short story first. When I was in high school, I was a running back in
>football (American football, not soccer). I quit because the middle
>line
>backers and defensive ends were twice my size and I was getting
>killed.
>	Stay with me just a bit longer. I promise this will be worth
>it.
>	I didn't realize that I could have been a place kicker or a
>punter. I could
>have been known as "Joe the Toe".
>Now, we are becoming the south Texas lab known for toenails, but we
>are
>having a problem with them staying on. We also perform a PAS/Fungus. We
>have
>tried Nair and ammonia water, but we are still having problems. Our
>sales
>manager is going to all the podiatrists in town and we are getting
>inundated
>with toenails. Can anyone give me some suggestions?
>	This isn't what I had in mind when I said I wanted to be known
>as "Joe the
>Toe".
>	thanks in advance.
>
>
>Joe  "The Toe" Nocito, BS, HT(ASCP) QIHC
>Histology Manager
>Pathology Reference Lab
>San Antonio, TX
>
>
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