Effect of seawater on fixation in bovine liver and heart tissues

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 (H&E) 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.