Three‐dimensional aspects of the structural characteristics and kidney angioarchitecture of adult and aged wistar rats: A scanning electron microscopy study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the structural morphological characteristics and organization of the kidney angioarchitecture in adult and aged Wistar rats using different scanning electron microscopy (SEM) methods. Twenty male Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus) were divided into two groups: the Adult Group (n = 10), which included animals at 3 months of age, and the Aged Group (n = 10), which included animals at 24 months of age. Kidney samples from both groups were analyzed using three distinct SEM methods: coronal sections, cryofracturing and vascular corrosion casts/angioarchitecture. This study demonstrates the specificity of each technique for three-dimensional morphological analyses of the kidney using SEM. In the coronal sections, it was possible to view the structures on a given plane; the stratigraphy was best observed in the cryofracture method, and the vascular corrosion casts showed the organization and arrangement of the angioarchitecture. Thus, we concluded that the SEM methods together provide the best description of the morphological characteristics of normal and pathological kidneys of adult and aged Wistar rats.

Possible effects of the Agaricus brasiliensis extract on the cardiac morphology in mice

“…The samples were processed with the cryofracture technique by freezing in liquid nitrogen and postfixed in 1% osmium tetroxide for 2 hours. The samples were washed in distilled water, dehydrated in series of alcohol (70% to absolute) and dried in a critical point apparatus (Balzers CPD-30), using liquid CO 2 (BOLINA, BOLINA-MATOS, ALVES et al, 2013) . The samples were mounted on appropriate metal stubs, covered with gold ions in unit (Balzers SCD -040) and examined in a scanning electron microscope, TM 3000 -Hitachi -Paulista State University/ UNESP, Rio Claro-SP.…”

Casting Materials and their Application in Research and Teaching

“…Tissue clearing is done making the specimen transparent if the casted internal structures are intended for display in situ (Spalteholtz, 1914; Walter et al, 2012). Corrosion of surrounding tissue is undertaken if clean casts devoid of any tissue are required and in addition sputter-coating with metals or metal complexes is done if specimens are intended for observation with a SEM (De Sousa Bolina et al, 2013). It is essential to await the complete polymerization of the casting material, which ranges from hours to days and which is dependent on the diluting agents used.…”