A procedure in mice to obtain intact pituitary-infundibulum-hypothalamus preparations: a method to evaluate the reconstruction of hypothalamohypophyseal system

Purpose The histopathological study of brain tissue is a common method in neuroscience. However, efficient procedures to preserve the intact hypothalamic-pituitary brain specimens are not available in mice for histopathological study. Method We describe a detailed procedure for obtaining mouse brain with pituitary-hypothalamus continuity. Unlike the traditional methods, we collect the brain via a ventral approach. We cut the intraoccipital synchondrosis, transection the endocranium of pituitary, broke the spheno-occipital synchondrosis, expose the posterior edge of pituitary, separate the trigeminal nerve, then the intact pituitary gland was preserved. Result We report an more effective and practical method to obtain continuous hypothalamus -pituitary preparations based on the preserve of leptomeninges. Compared with the existing methods Our procedure effectively protects the integrity of the fragile infundibulum preventing the pituitary from separating from the hypothalamus. This procedure is more convenient and efficient. Conclusion We present a convenient and practical procedure to obtain intact hypothalamic-pituitary brain specimens for subsequent histopathological evaluation in mice.