Appropriate Sacrifice-Dissection Conditions

Many recent studies have addressed the question of postmortem stability of cerebral ammo acids. Techniques for appropriate sacrifice of the experimental animal and brain dissection depend on the amino acid to be measured and the brain structure under investigation. One recent study reported the effects of increasing 

In addition to the problem of postmortem stability of cerebral GABA, other possible sources of variability have been reported These include interspecies differences (Alderman and Shellenberger, 1974) and circadian variations of GABA in certain brain structures (Cattabeni et al., 1978). In view of these sources of potential variability, it is important in experiments in which regional GABA concentrations are to be measured to control for the following parameters  

Dissection times should be as short as possible and should be rigorously matched in control and experimental groups For regions requiring longer dissection times, animals should be sacrificed by microwave irradiation, or, alternatively, control experiments of postmortem GABA changes as a function of time in that particular brain structure should be performed. 

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