Lozano-Olvera Rodolfo, Aguilar-Rendón Karla G, Cervantes Sergio, Abad-Rosales Selene M, Soto-Rodriguez Sonia A, Chávez-Sánchez María C
Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo, A.C. Subsede Mazatlán en Acuicultura y Manejo Ambiental, Av. Sábalo-Cerritos S/N, Mazatlán 82112, Sinaloa, México.
Programa Académico de Ingeniería en Biotecnología, Universidad Politécnica de Sinaloa, Carretera Municipal Libre Mazatlán Higueras Km. 3, Colonia Genaro Estrada, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, 82199, México.
Vet Res Commun. 2025 Sep 8;49(5):304. doi: 10.1007/s11259-025-10865-y.
Histological analysis is a method commonly used in medical clinics to evaluate biological tissues and their abnormalities. However, this method is based on tissue collected from the necropsy of the animal, where modifications in the tissue associated with autolysis can occur after death. This study analyses the post-mortem histomorphological changes in white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) after euthanasia by clove oil anaesthesia induction and pithing as a secondary killing method. The objective was to evaluate the natural progression of autolysis in specific tissues and determine the optimal time for collecting histopathological samples. Eighty clinically healthy juvenile shrimp were killed and analysed at 0, 10, 20, 40, 60, 120, 240, and 360 min post-mortem (mpd). Changes in colouration, muscle stiffness (rigor mortis), and tissue structure in the hepatopancreas, midgut, and antennal gland were examined. From 40 mpd onward, colour changes were observed in the musculature and hepatopancreas, accompanied by an increase in abdominal curvature due to the development of rigor mortis. The hepatopancreas exhibited the fastest rate of autolysis, followed by the midgut and antennal gland. Tissue integrity was lost at 10 mpd in the hepatopancreas and was severe from 60 mpd onward. A significant relationship was found between post-mortem time and the degree of tissue autolysis (r > 0.90, P < 0.001), with the hepatopancreas being the most severely affected tissue. The results indicate that post-mortem changes in P. vannamei occur rapidly, which can affect the interpretation of histopathological analyses if autolytic changes in tissues are not recognised as a post-mortem process. Immediate fixation of samples within the first 5 min after shrimp death is recommended to avoid significant alterations that could lead to misinterpretation in histological studies.
组织学分析是医学临床中常用的一种评估生物组织及其异常情况的方法。然而，该方法基于从动物尸检收集的组织，在死亡后，组织会发生与自溶相关的变化。本研究分析了经丁香油麻醉诱导安乐死并采用刺杀作为辅助致死方法后，凡纳滨对虾的死后组织形态学变化。目的是评估特定组织中自溶的自然进程，并确定采集组织病理学样本的最佳时间。八十只临床健康的幼虾在死后0、10、20、40、60、120、240和360分钟（mpd）被处死并进行分析。检查了肝胰腺、中肠和触角腺的颜色变化、肌肉僵硬程度（尸僵）和组织结构。从40 mpd起，在肌肉组织和肝胰腺中观察到颜色变化，同时由于尸僵的发展，腹部弯曲度增加。肝胰腺的自溶速度最快，其次是中肠和触角腺。肝胰腺在10 mpd时失去组织完整性，从60 mpd起情况严重。发现死后时间与组织自溶程度之间存在显著关系（r＞0.90，P＜0.001），肝胰腺是受影响最严重的组织。结果表明，凡纳滨对虾的死后变化迅速，如果不将组织中的自溶变化视为死后过程，可能会影响组织病理学分析的解读。建议在对虾死亡后的前5分钟内立即固定样本，以避免可能导致组织学研究出现错误解读的显著改变。
