An experimental technique for performing fish cardiovascular perfusion in vivo

Abstract

Tissue extraction plays an important role in the study of brain structure and function. To avoid brain tissue autolysis, we propose an in vivo cardiovascular perfusion technique. In this experiment, we selected the carp as a research object and used the medicated bath method to anaesthetize it. Then two infusion needles were, respectively, inserted into the ventral aorta and total primary vein. Subsequently, the brain tissue of carp was perfused with physiological saline containing 10% formalin. Then the carp was decapitated and the brain fixed in 10% formalin solution. Finally, paraffin sections were prepared and observed under a light microscope. The results showed that this technique could effectively avoid the autolysis and thus result in relatively complete and normal brain tissue. The results suggested that the method is simple, reliable, and able to effectively fix the brain tissue.