In this study, bovine liver and heart tissues were obtained from 60 male animals (approximately 2 years old, Holstein breed) slaughtered at a private abattoir in Ankara, Türkiye. The tissues were fixed using three alcohol-based (70%) and three formalin-based (10%) solutions prepared with either distilled water or seawater. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of seawater-based fixation solutions on hematoxylin–eosin (HE) staining, which is the standard method for histological evaluation. The tissues were fixed for 24 hours, followed by routine histological processing. The results demonstrated that 10% formalin prepared with seawater provided high fixation quality comparable to that of distilled water-based formalin. Although fixation was achieved in tissues treated with 70% ethanol, its performance was inferior to that of formaldehyde-based fixation. When ethanol is used as an alternative to formalin, concentrations higher than 70% may provide improved fixation quality.
Esin Ünsaldı (Sat,) studied this question.