ABSTRACT
This chapter provides generalized overview of some of the more common routine and special procedures, with a focus on those that are most commonly used in nonclinical safety assessment by toxicologic pathologists. It focuses on routine techniques such as necropsy, organ weights, and histology. Histochemical staining, immunohistochemical staining, and electron microscopy can also greatly assist the toxicologic pathologist in choosing and recording the most accurate diagnosis for the change. The chapter also focuses on some of the special techniques that are occasionally used, such as in situ protein, RNA, and DNA evaluations and imaging methods outside of bright-field microscopy. The primary or "routine" responsibility of the anatomic pathologist in nonclinical safety assessment is the necropsy of the test animals at the end of the studies and microscopic evaluation of hematoxylin and eosin-stained tissue sections on glass slides. After the necropsy, the collected tissues go through a series of defined steps in order to produce slides for the pathologist to examine.
