Alberto García Barrios; Natalia Belizón Bravo; Jaime Whyte-Orozco; María Climent Aroz &, Ana Isabel Cisneros Gimeno

Currently used embalming solutions continue to present formaldehyde at low concentrations and its identification as a carcinogenic and irritant agent has promoted the search for other formulations, such as N-Vinyl-2-Pyrrolidone (NVP2), which are effective and less harmful. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the use of NVP2 in the preservation of cadavers, to assess the appearance, texture, flexibility and microbicidal effect according to the different formulations used in veterinary anatomy teaching. A preliminary study phase was carried out with 16 cryopreserved mice, divided into 2 groups according to the climatic conditions of exposure: room temperature (n=8) or refrigerator chamber at 4 oC (n=8), 2 of them being excluded at the beginning of the study. Six different preservation solutions were used, depending on the percentage of NVP2 (5 % or 10 %) and the proportion of ethanol (30 % or 50 %) or the use of distilled water. Appearance, texture, flexibility and antimicrobial effect were evaluated according to the formula used, humidity and temperature were recorded in both groups and the pH of the embalming solutions was determined. Environmental conditions had an influence on the state of preservation and antimicrobial effect, being better in preservation at 4 oC. The solutions with NVP2 at 5-10 % + 30-50 % ethanol obtained better results for most of the variables analyzed and showed fungicidal efficacy and ease of dissection similar to the cryopreserved cadaver. The preservation solutions with NVP2 offer physical-mechanical characteristics and dissection capacity similar to the fresh and/or cryopreserved model, with adequate antimicrobial efficacy under controlled conditions.

KEY WORDS: Embalming; N-Vinyl-2-Pyrrolidone; Cadaver; Tissue preservation; Bacterial growth; Biomechanical phenomena.

GARCÍA BARRIOS, A.; BELIZÓN BRAVO, N.; WHYTE-OROZCO, J.; CLIMENT AROZ, M. & CISNEROS GIMENO, A. I. Alternatives to formaldehyde in the embalming of cadavers in the teaching of anatomy. Int. J. Morphol., 44(1):52-59, 2026.