Three-dimensional visualization of neuro-degeneration in cupric-silver stained serial rat brain slices following toluene exposure

Recognizing spatial relationships of neuro-degeneration in brains exposed to organic solvents is difficult when working from 2-dimensional serial slices. Recent advances in software have allowed the assembly of serial sections of stained tissue into a 3-dimensional (3D) representations. Appropriately chosen stains indicative of specific pathology can be highlighted and the 3D representation of its spatial distribution within the organ displayed. The purpose of this work was to develop a method for visualizing the spatial distribution of neuronal degeneration following organic solvent exposure. A cupric silver stain highly specific for degenerating neurons was used to identify neuronal degeneration in 83 serial histologic sections of brains of rodents exposed to toluene.. Brain sections were scanned at 600 dpi using a grey-scale protocol. Scans were assembled into 3D images which were further processed into stereo pairs. Grey-scale scans were compared to the original sections in order to establish grey- scale ranges for healthy and damaged tissue and artifact staining. The respective categories then were assigned pseudocolors to improve contrast.