Table 3.

Preservation of Tissue and Cell Morphology of Rat Tibiae Using Different Decalcification Conditions and Time Savings.

Condition		Tissue and Cell Morphology					Antigenicity			Time Saving
Decalcification Solution	Temp. (C)	Bone	Cartilage	Osteo-cytes	Chondro-cytes	Bone Marrow Cells	Collagen Type I	Osterix	von Willebrand Factor	(%)
10% EDTA	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	0
	25	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	20
	37	3	3	4	3	4	3	3	4	86
10% Formic	4	4	4	4	4	3	2	4	3	94
acid	25	4	4	3	4	3	2	4	4	96
	37	3	3	3	3	2	2	3	3	97
5% HCl	4	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	4	98
	25	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	4	99
	37	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	4	99
5% Nitric	4	3	3	2	2	2	2	1	1	99
acid	25	2	2	1	1	1	2	1	2	99.5
	37	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	3	99.7

Grading: 1, poor; 2, fair; 3, good; 4, excellent. Abbreviations: EDTA, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid; HCl, hydrochloric acid; Temp., temperature.