S10 Plastination Technique for Preservation of Parasites: the case of Oestrus ovis larvae

Abstract

Department of Animal Health (Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases) 2Department of Anatomy and Comparative Pathological Anatomy Regional Campus of International Excellence University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain ABSTRACT: Plastination is a method of preserving biological tissue in a dry, odorless state, avoiding the use of traditional chemicals, some of them carcinogenic, such as formaldehyde. In recent years, plastination has been introduced in many anatomy departments of human and veterinary medicine, where plastinated specimens are used as a teaching tool for gross anatomy. There are very few references in the literature describing the plastination of parasitic specimens. Formalin-fixed Oestrus ovis larvae, stages L2 and L3, were dehydrated in acetone, and plastinated with the standard Biodur® S10 protocol. Plastinated larvae suffered a collapse of their structures, with a macroscopic deformation of their appearance. In a second test, making an incision in the ventral part of the cuticle allowed us to obtain, for the first time, plastinated larvae of Oestrus ovis, preserving the morphological characteristics that these specimens had before the plastination process.