Novel resin tissue array system reduces sample preparation time, labour and reagent costs in bone tissue histology.

Resin histology plays an essential role in the analysis of hard tissues, such as bone and teeth, as well as in the context of metallic implant analysis. However, the techniques of resin embedding, followed by ground sectioning, are very costly due to significantly increased reagent cost and labour time when compared to the conventional paraffin histology approach. In the present study, a novel resin array system was developed to increase the affordability of a project analysing rat femur tissues containing metallic or polymeric implants. The resin array system enabled the simultaneous embedding of the femur samples in groups of eight samples compared to the conventional resin method where samples are processed individually. The ground sections produced with the resin array system allowed uniform ROI selection, ground section thickness, staining consistency, and histological analysis with Goldner's trichrome stain, offering a substantial opportunity for reproducible immunohistochemistry which is unable to be achieved when processing samples embedded individually. The application of this novel resin array system significantly reduced resource usage when compared to doing the same analysis on individual samples. A reduction of approximately 40% was achieved for both total labour time and total reagent cost through the use of the array system compared with individual embedding. This novel resin array system has widespread applicability to many bone, hard tissue, and metallic implant studies, offering substantial conservation of research funds and increased accessibility to advanced techniques for commercial partners due to more cost-effective sample preparation and more accurate, reproducible data.

Ureaplasma parvum and Ureaplasma urealyticum are detected in semen after washing before assisted reproductive technology procedures.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of ureaplasmas in semen and washed semen and to explore their effect on semen andrology variables. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: In vitro fertilization (IVF) unit of a private hospital. PATIENT(S): Three hundred forty-three men participating in an assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment cycle. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The prevalence of ureaplasmas in semen and washed semen tested by culture, polymerase chain reaction assays, and indirect immunofluorescent antibody assays. RESULT(S): Ureaplasmas were detected in 73 of 343 (22%) semen samples and 29 of 343 (8.5%) washed semen samples. Ureaplasmas adherent to the surface of spermatozoa were demonstrated by indirect immunofluorescent antibody testing. Ureplasma parvum serovar 6 (36.6%) and U. urealyticum (30%) were the most prevalent isolates in washed semen. A comparison of the semen andrology variables of washed semen ureaplasma positive and negative groups demonstrated a lower proportion of nonmotile sperm in men ureaplasma positive for washed semen. CONCLUSION(S): Ureaplasmas are not always removed from semen by a standard ART washing procedure and can remain adherent to the surface of spermatozoa.