Deplastination: Making plastinates histo-pathologically relevant

Abstract Introduction Deplastination is a process that reverses plastination. While the process is in its infancy, this study was designed to see if deplastinated tissues can be used for histopathological studies. Methods In this study, a slice of liver tissue was split into two parts. The first half was processed, sectioned and stained with routine H&E staining while the other half was plastinated with S10 plastination technique and was deplastinated after 3 months using sodium methoxide as the deplastinating agent. It was latter stained with routine H&E. The slides were assessed qualitatively on parameters like tissue and cell identification, staining property, preservation of tissue architecture, visualisation of intracellular structures like nuclei, nucleoli, fat goblets etc. and presence of artefacts due to the process. Results Identification of tissue was possible on the deplastinated slides. Intracellular structures like nuclei, nucleoli, fat droplets were identified in the deplastinated slides. Discussion In this study, we have found that sodium methoxide and methanol form good deplastinating agents for small sections of tissue. Identification of endpoint of deplastination forms a crucial step in the process.