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Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2020

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition

2020-04-03

Comparative Study of Humectants Used to Preserve Epithelial Comparative Study of Humectants Used to Preserve Epithelial

Tissue Tissue

Tanner Nelson Brigham Young University - Provo, tannernelson789@gmail.com

Zak Webber Brigham Young University - Provo

Aaron Peatross Brigham Young University - Provo

Alex Pittard Brigham Young University - Provo

Andrew Sykes Brigham Young University - Provo

See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/library_studentposters_2020

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BYU ScholarsArchive Citation BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Nelson, Tanner; Webber, Zak; Peatross, Aaron; Pittard, Alex; Sykes, Andrew; Olsen, Ayden; Meeves, Brandon; Baeza, Chris; Nilsen, Christian; Reeves, Craig; West, David; Tan, Dexter; Lindstrom, Elijah; Holdaway, Emma; Davis, Gregg; Madsen, Iliana; Jones, Niko; Grinnell, Olivia; Colvin, Sawyer; Humpherys, Tyler; and Adams, Jason, "Comparative Study of Humectants Used to Preserve Epithelial Tissue" (2020). Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2020. 21. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/library_studentposters_2020/21

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Authors Authors Tanner Nelson, Zak Webber, Aaron Peatross, Alex Pittard, Andrew Sykes, Ayden Olsen, Brandon Meeves, Chris Baeza, Christian Nilsen, Craig Reeves, David West, Dexter Tan, Elijah Lindstrom, Emma Holdaway, Gregg Davis, Iliana Madsen, Niko Jones, Olivia Grinnell, Sawyer Colvin, Tyler Humpherys, and Jason Adams

This poster is available at BYU ScholarsArchive: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/library_studentposters_2020/21

• Preserving human tissue is widely important in many different fields including the burial of the deceased, forensics, and education. Most cadaveric preserving solutions contain a humectant chemical which keeps the tissue moist and well-preserved (Fig1).

• We believe that in a comparative study a wet/dry tissue analysis can be used to analyze which humectants are most effective at preventing water loss from the tissue.

• Through further comparative analysis using our methods, we hope to determine the most effective humectant for the preservation of tissue.

Comparative Study of Humectants Used to Preserve Epithelial Tissue

Tanner Nelson, Zak Webber, Aaron Peatross, Alex Pittard, Andrew Sykes, Ayden Olsen, Brandon Meeves, Chris Baeza, Christian Nilsen, Craig Reeves, David West, Dexter Tan, Elijah Lindstrom, Emma Holdaway, Gregg Davis, Iliana Madsen, Niko Jones, Olivia Grinnell, Sawyer Colvin, Tyler Humpherys, Jason Adams

Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT

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Introduction

Methods

Results

Conclusions

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References1.Habicht, J. L., Kiessling, C., & Winkelmann, A. (2018). Bodies for Anatomy Education in Medical Schools: An Overview of the Sources of Cadavers Worldwide. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 93(9), 1293–1300.2.Cantor, N. L. (2010). After we die : The life and times of the human cadaver.3.Balta, J. Y., Cronin, M., Cryan, J. F., & Omahony, S. M. (2015). Human preservation techniques in anatomy: A 21st century medical education perspective. Clinical Anatomy, 28(6), 725–734.

• The largest change in mass was seen in the first 12 hours for all samples.• The mass of dried tissue had little change after 12 hours.• Samples treated with propylene glycol demonstrated the the smallest % drop in overall mass.• After 108 hours, tissues treated with propylene glycol maintained 40.63% of the initial mass on average.• After 108 hours, tissues soaked in H2O retained 29.88% of the initial mass on average.• After 108 hours, dry tissues maintained 50.47% of the initial mass on average.

TissueH2O loss is prevented by a humectant.

HumectantEvaporation

Figure 1.

1. Dehydrated epithelial tissue was prepared in uniform 1 cm² sections of approximately 2 mm thickness.

2. Five samples were placed in a tube containing each of the following conditions:a) distilled water, b) 50% propylene glycol in distilled waterc) left empty as a negative control. Tissues were left for 12 hours.

3. Tissue samples were removed from the solution, put into polystyrene tubes, and placed in an oven at 60° C. The mass was measured every 12 hours over a period of 108 hours.

4. Data was analyzed and a best fit line was calculated for each of the sample conditions.

Figure 2. Summary of experimental methods

Our study applied a novel technique of wet-dry tissue analysis that introduces a cost-effective and simple method to compare humectants on human tissue. This data can be used to understand the best moisturization techniques and humectants for human tissues in human anatomy labs as well as in the burial of the deceased, and forensics. Our data detailed differences in the line of best fit for propylene glycol, water, and dry tissues. The findings are consistent with previous research on propylene glycol as an effective humectant. More wet-dry analysis and research is planned to investigate how solution concentrations influence hydration using several humectants.