Authors: Rachel Prince, Joseph Monsen
Mentors: Jason Adams
Insitution: Brigham Young University
Humectants are an important class of compounds that attract and retain water within a cell. These substances are commonly used in skincare products to prevent the outer layers of the skin from drying out. Humectants also serve a similar purpose in tissue preservation and prevention of decomposition of cadaveric specimens. As there have been few comparative studies analyzing the effects of different chemicals on the preservation of cadaveric tissue, we designed an assay consisting of wet-dry analysis to compare the effects of four common humectants (2-phenoxy ethanol, glycerol, propylene glycol, and ethylene glycol) on water retention in various cadaveric tissues. These tissues include human skin, skeletal muscle, brain, liver, cardiac muscle, and lung tissue. In each experiment, the tissue was submerged in the humectant and then weighed before and after being placed in an incubator. From these values, we calculated the percent difference in tissue mass to determine the most effective humectant concentration for retaining moisture in the tissue. We first tested a concentration gradient for each humectant to determine the most effective concentrations for each humectant. Then we performed a second set of experiments to compare the ideal concentrations of the humectants under the same conditions in each tissue. In our preliminary experiments, we found that glycerol is the most effective in retaining moisture in several of these cadaveric tissues. As we finish our experimentation we plan to create a tissue library to provide an evidence-based standard for wetting solutions used in anatomy labs.