Novel Threadlike Structures May Be Present on the Large Animal Organ Surface: Evidence in Swine Model

Background. The types of embryonic development probably provoke different paths of novel threadlike structure (NTS) development. The authors hypothesized that NTS may be easily observed on the surface of swine intestines by using trypan blue staining method and visualization under an optical microscope. Methods. General anesthesia was administered to 2 Yorkshire pigs. The abdominal walls of the pigs were carefully dissected along the medial alba. NTSs were identified on organ surfaces under a stereoscopic microscope after trypan blue staining. Isolated NTS specimens obtained from the large intestine were subjected to 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining and observed using the polarized light microscopy to confirm whether the obtained structure fits the definition of NTS. Results. We found elastic, semitransparent threadlike structures (forming a network structure) that had a milky-white color in situ and in vivo in swine large intestines. The samples showed distinct extinction of polarized light at every 90 degrees, and nucleus was shown to be rod shaped by DAPI staining, indicating that they meet the criteria of NTS. Conclusion. We used a swine model to demonstrate that NTS may be present on large animal organ surfaces. Our results may permit similar studies by using human specimens.