Abstract
Histochemical staining for keratins in major salivary glands from mice and rats was compared among specimens prepared with 9 fixatives. Keratin proteins were generally confined to the striated duct (SD) and excretory duct (ED) cells in salivary glands with Carnoy's, Helly's, Bouin's, Zamboni's, formalin, alcohol and acetone fixatives and negative with PLP and Orth's fixatives. Identification of keratin proteins in both SD and GCT cells was best achieved using Helly's, Bouin's and acetone fixations.
The best results of keratin reaction in SD cells, as well as histologic figures were obtained from the sections with Helly's, Bouin's, Zamboni's and acetone. For histochemical identification of keratins in GCT cells, slight positive staining was obtained in the sections using Helly's, Bouin's and acetone fixation.
