Displaying The Nerve Distribution Of SD Rat Skin By A Further Modified Sihler's Intramuscular Nerve Staining Method

Objective: To investigate the application of the further modified Sihler's intramuscular nerve staining method in displaying the nerve distribution of SD rat skin.Methods: After six adult SD rats were selected and sacrificed,the skin was cut against muscle surface on the dorsal side and ventral side.Finally,6 pieces of the dorsal skin and 6pieces of the ventral skin were obtained.After fixed in 10% formaldehyde solution for 1month,defatted by anhydrous ethanol for 3 days,and digested in 0.25% collagenase?and? solution for 3 days,SD rat skin was stained by the further modified Sihler's intramuscular nerve staining method.Results:After 12 pieces of SD rat skin were stained,10 pieces obtained a good staining result.In the process of removing the pigment,the epidermis often falls off and even if it does not fall off,a boundary between the epidermis and dermis can't be found on the tiled skin and the nerve branches in the epidermis cannot be seen;it is difficult to remove partial subcutaneous fat completely in the anatomical process.Therefore,obvious nerve distribution in partial subcutaneous fat is visible to naked eyes.By virtue of X-Ray film viewer,it can be seen by naked eyes that the skin is light purple,the nerves are black,and the nerves in each region have uneven distribution and different diameter,shape and shade.It can even be seen that the nerves are twisted and knotted.Conclusion:Skin nerve distribution visible to naked eyes can be clearly displayed after SD rat skin is stained by the further modified Sihler 's intramuscular nerve staining method.These results will have a certain significance for the determination of nerve fiber density in each region of SD rat skin and the study of nerve regeneration after skin flap transplantation in animal models.