Improved Polyester Wax Embedding for Histology

Abstract

Polyester waxes are fatty add esters of polyethylene glycol. Polyethylene glycol 400 distearate melts at 35°C, infiltrates tissues well, and sections readily at 2 μ to more than 30 μ. Sections 2 μ to 6 μ are more easily cut when a kitchen strainer full of solid CO2 (dry ice) is mounted above the microtome to cool the block and the knife, and when the knife crosses the block very slowly. Ribbons are flattened in water at room temperature and are mounted conventionally. Polyester ribbons are somewhat stickier than paraffin ribbons. Polyethylene glycol 400 distearate is slightly hydrophilic; immediately after microtomy and before the ribbon is affixed to the microscope slide, sections in the wax ribbon may conveniently be stained with 0.05% toluidine blue in aqueous benzoate buffer, pH 4.4. Tissue structure is better preserved in polyester than in paraffin wax, probably because structural lipids are better retained and localized. However, this difference between waxes is slight if tissues are well fixed and dehydrated. Other advantages of polyester wax are that sections fragment less, hard tissues rarely split away from the wax ribbon, no static electricity is generated, and the microtome knife seems to remain sharp for a longer time.