Improved method of acrylic resin-based vascular corrosion casting in mice

Abstract

Acrylic resin-based vascular corrosion casting is an excellent method of observing three-dimensional vascular morphology. Although an improved casting method using rats has been established, this technique has yet to be confirmed in mice. We attempted to improve this method in mice using the mandibular gland and the dorsum of the tongue. A high-precision syringe pump was used in the mice for the mechanical injection of low-viscosity acrylic resin, followed by high-viscosity acrylic resin, which was heat-cured. Observation under a scanning electron microscope confirmed that sufficient acrylic resin had been injected into the capillary vessels of both the mandibular gland and lingual dorsum. In the mandibular gland, arterioles were apparent near the surface layer, and a reticular structure was observed in which the capillary-level vessels continued from a region corresponding to the roots of the lobules to the surface layer. In the lingual dorsum, the hairpin capillary loop structures of the filiform papillae and the reticular structures of the fungiform papillae were apparent. We were able to prepare vascular corrosion casts of the mandibular gland and lingual dorsum in mice, one of the most widely used laboratory animals. This will aid the research on microvessels in mice. (J Osaka Dent Univ 2022; 56: 223-227)