As in the question, we couldn't ship our samples in parafomaldehyde between Canada and the US so we put them in saline and shipped them express. They got stuck at the border, and no one realized for 5 days. Ultimately, they are being shipped back to us in Canada, but they'll have been in saline (and unknown temperature, probably about 18-20C) for almost 2 weeks. We had the proper paperwork with the samples, but we think it may have been lost along the way, due to the rejection.
We still need to ship the samples, and plan to put the samples back in paraformaldehyde for a few days before trying to ship them again in saline. Does anyone have any advice on how to salvage what's left of the samples, or idea of how badly they will be degraded?
Thanks for the help.
Heather, your samples are in safe. Before shipping, they were fixed. Does the saline solution is PBS or TBS 0.1M? So, after receiving them back, you can wash them in saline solution and send them again.
Will the samples be evaluated by PCR or histology? If histological evaluation, there is no problem. In PCR or DNA extraction, the buffers will eleminate the salt excess.
An other tip is using Falcon tubes with parafilm M on the top to prevent solution loss.
I hope helping you.
Thanks for the answer Andre! The samples are for histology, the saline is PBS. We're really hoping that so long as they didn't get moldy, the paraformaldehyde will keep them intact enough to visualize what we need to see.
Hi Heather, I also think that samples are probably fine, especially for histology as long as they were in fixative for 24 hours or so.
I also think the sample should be fine as long undergone enough fixation period.
We routinely shipped formalin fixed tissue which had no free liquid - just kept moist and sealed in a plastic bag (to avoid the issue carrieres had with sending liquids containing formalin by air), the tissues were fine for histology. We also found that washing the tissues in 70% alcohol prior to dispatch (to remove the formalin) and then sending the tissue moist, no free liquid, as before, also worked well and enabled us to use PCR. Shipping would be 3-5 days in transit.
Samples fixed in formalin for 48+ hrs, moved into a small amount of water and then shipped are fine. I prefer that they not be held in water longer than 48hrs, but I've had some come back after 72-96 hrs that were ok for histology. I usually wash the cassettes 2-3 times in tapwater, place them in a suitable container with some wet paper towels and then ship. Alternatively, you can ship
I also think your wayward histology samples will be useful when you re-ship them. I concur with Brian Jones that after fixation (24-48 h), preserved tissues can then be stored or shipped immersed in 70% ethanol. If the 70% ethanol is decanted after equilibration, the fixed tissues can be shipped damp in sealed containers so their shipping category beneficially becomes 'solids' rather than 'liquids'.
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