Evaluation of Human Cadaver Tissue for Undergraduate Medical Histology Education

Histology is a foundational component of medical education, providing critical insights into tissue structure and function. While undergraduate biomedical sciences students traditionally use animal tissues for histological studies at Liberty University, this research explores the feasibility of using human cadaveric tissue to enhance undergraduate medical histology education. The research question guiding this study is: “Can human cadaver tissue serve as a viable and educationally valuable alternative to animal tissue in undergraduate histology education?” We hypothesize that cadaveric tissue will display preserved histological structures comparable to live tissue references, making it a useful educational tool. To test this hypothesis, testicular and ovarian tissue samples (~1 cm³) were collected from two cadaveric donors provided by the University of Maryland State Anatomy Board (Donor 1: Male, White, 73 years old; Donor 2: Female, White, 88 years old). Following dissection, tissues were washed in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and 70% ethanol. Paraffin-embedded tissues were sectioned at 5-micron thickness, stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E), and examined under a light microscope. The structural integrity of blood vessels, surface epithelium, connective tissues, and gonad-specific components was assessed and compared to online histological references of biopsy tissue samples. Preliminary results indicate that cadaveric tissues retain fundamental histological features, including intact blood vessel endothelium enclosing erythrocytes and leukocytes, surface epithelium with underlying stromal structures, and ovarian cysts observed in the female tissue. These findings suggest that human cadaveric tissues could significantly enhance undergraduate histology education by providing students with realistic, clinically relevant samples. Future research will focus on expanding this study to include additional tissue types, such as brain, liver, and skeletal muscle which have been collected, to further validate cadaveric tissue as an effective resource for medical education.