Question

Which of the following is a fixative?
(A) Acetic acid
(B) Bouin's solution
(C) Carnoy's Fluid
(D) All the above

Answer 1

Hint : A fixative is a preservative or stabilising agent: Dye fixatives, also known as mordants, are chemical compounds used in fabric processing to generate conditions in the micro-substrates that cause dye molecules to bind and stay in place.

Complete Step By Step Answer:
Fixatives are compounds that aid in the process of fixing. Fixation is the technique of securely attaching cells or tissues to the surface of a microscope slide. It's employed in compound fixatives to help avoid the loss of nucleic acids and to compensate for shrinkage caused by other substances like ethanol since it swells collagen. Although acetic acid penetrates quickly, fixatives containing it lyse red blood cells.
Bouin solution is a histological compound fixative. Picric acid, acetic acid, and formaldehyde in an aqueous solution were created by Pol Bouin, a French scientist. Bouin's fluid is particularly effective for the fixation of biopsies from the gastrointestinal tract because it allows for crisper and better nuclear staining than 10 percent neutral-buffered formalin. When tissue ultrastructure must be retained for electron microscopy, it is not a good fixative. When tissue structure with a soft and delicate texture must be retained, it is a useful fixative. The acetic acid in this fixative dissolves tiny iron and calcium deposits in tissue and lyses red blood cells.
Carnoy's solution is a fixative that consists of 60% ethanol, 30% chloroform, 10% glacial acetic acid, and 1 gram ferric chloride. Carnoy's solution is an ethanol and glacial acetic acid fixation.
Hence option D Is correct. All are used as fixatives.

Note :
Fixatives are compounds that aid in the process of fixing. Fixation is the technique of securely attaching cells or tissues to the surface of a microscope slide. A fixative is acetic acid. Proteins in the samples will be partly hydrolyzed. Picric acid, acetic acid, and formaldehyde are all present in Bouin's solution, which is an aqueous solution. It's used to repair biopsies from the gastrointestinal system, animal embryos, and tissue from the endocrine glands. Ethanol, chloroform, and glacial acetic acid make up Carnoy's fluid. It's used to keep tiny tissues in place.