Neutralisation of SARS-CoV-2 by anatomical embalming solutions

Fabio Quondamatteo; Dora E. Corzo-Leon; Cecilia Brassett; Ian Colquhoun; David C. Davies; Peter Dockery; Sue Grenham; Simon Guild; Amanda Hunter; James Jones; Thomas C. Lee; Chris Tracey; Tracey Wilkinson; Carol A. Munro; Thomas H. Gillingwater; Simon H. Parson

doi:10.1111/joa.13549

Neutralisation of SARS-CoV-2 by anatomical embalming solutions

Fabio Quondamatteo, Dora E. Corzo-Leon, Cecilia Brassett, Ian Colquhoun, David C. Davies, Peter Dockery, Sue Grenham, Simon Guild, Amanda Hunter, James Jones, Thomas C. Lee, Chris Tracey, Tracey Wilkinson, Carol A. Munro, Thomas H. Gillingwater, Simon H. Parson^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

46 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Teaching and learning anatomy by using human cadaveric specimens has been a foundation of medical and biomedical teaching for hundreds of years. Therefore, the majority of institutions that teach topographical anatomy rely on body donation programmes to provide specimens for both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching of gross anatomy. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to anatomy teaching because of the suspension of donor acceptance at most institutions. This was largely due to concerns about the potential transmissibility of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the absence of data about the ability of embalming solutions to neutralise the virus. Twenty embalming solutions commonly used in institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland were tested for their ability to neutralise SARS-CoV-2, using an established cytotoxicity assay. All embalming solutions tested neutralised SARS-CoV-2, with the majority of solutions being effective at high-working dilutions. These results suggest that successful embalming with the tested solutions can neutralise the SARS-CoV-2 virus, thereby facilitating the safe resumption of body donation programmes and cadaveric anatomy teaching.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1221-1225
Number of pages	5
Journal	Journal of Anatomy
Volume	239
Issue number	5
Early online date	11 Oct 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.13549
Publication status	Published - Nov 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to Ms Catherine MacRobbie of the University of Glasgow for administrative help with this project. The authors wish also to thank Prof Gordon Findlater, her Majesty's Inspector for Anatomy in Scotland, for helpful advice.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Anatomy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Anatomical Society

Keywords

body donation
cadaver
fixation
preservation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Anatomy
Histology
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Molecular Biology
Developmental Biology
Cell Biology

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QuondamatteoF2021NeutralisationFinal published version, 347 KBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

Cite this

Quondamatteo, F., Corzo-Leon, D. E., Brassett, C., Colquhoun, I., Davies, D. C., Dockery, P., Grenham, S., Guild, S., Hunter, A., Jones, J., Lee, T. C., Tracey, C., Wilkinson, T., Munro, C. A., Gillingwater, T. H., & Parson, S. H. (2021). Neutralisation of SARS-CoV-2 by anatomical embalming solutions. Journal of Anatomy, 239(5), 1221-1225. https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.13549

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abstract = "Teaching and learning anatomy by using human cadaveric specimens has been a foundation of medical and biomedical teaching for hundreds of years. Therefore, the majority of institutions that teach topographical anatomy rely on body donation programmes to provide specimens for both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching of gross anatomy. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to anatomy teaching because of the suspension of donor acceptance at most institutions. This was largely due to concerns about the potential transmissibility of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the absence of data about the ability of embalming solutions to neutralise the virus. Twenty embalming solutions commonly used in institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland were tested for their ability to neutralise SARS-CoV-2, using an established cytotoxicity assay. All embalming solutions tested neutralised SARS-CoV-2, with the majority of solutions being effective at high-working dilutions. These results suggest that successful embalming with the tested solutions can neutralise the SARS-CoV-2 virus, thereby facilitating the safe resumption of body donation programmes and cadaveric anatomy teaching.",

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Neutralisation of SARS-CoV-2 by anatomical embalming solutions

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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