A modified method for the study of tissue oxidations.

There are two common methods for preparing animal tissues for oxygen uptake studies; namely, the “slice technique” and the “mince technique.” In the former method the tissues are cut into thin slices about 0.3 mm. thick, care being taken to damage the tissues as little as possible. In the latter method no precautions are taken to avoid damage to the tissues, which are either run through a mechanical mincer (l), cut into fine pieces with scissors (2), or even mashed with a bone spatula (3). Dixon and Elliott (1) stated that the same results were obtained by both the slice and the mince technique, but Elliott and coworkers (4) have since adopted extreme precautions to prevent damage to the tissue, and recommend the slice technique. These workers showed that in a majority of cases the oxygen uptake of minced tissue suspensions was much inferior to that of tissue slices. The present communication describes a new method for the study of tissue oxidations, which involves (a) the rapid preparation of homogenized tissue suspensions by means of a simple apparatus, and (b) the measurement of the oxygen uptake of the suspension in various dilutions. The new technique for the preparation of the tissue,suspension differs from mince techniques in that the tissues are broken down while in a buffer medium, and without contamination, inasmuch as the homogenizer is made entirely of glass. It is also possible to have no loss in temperature from the time the animal is killed until the suspensions are in the apparatus.