HIGH-TEMPERATURE ANTIGEN RETRIEVAL AND LOSS OF NUCLEAR MORPHOLOGY - ACOMPARISON OF MICROWAVE AND AUTOCLAVE TECHNIQUES

The use of high temperature antigen retrieval methods has been of majo r importance in increasing the diagnostic utility of immunocytochemist ry. However, these techniques are not without their problems and in th is report attention is drawn to a loss of nuclear morphological detail , including mitotic figures, following microwave antigen retrieval, Th is was not seen with an equivalent autoclave technique. This phenomeno n was quantified using image analysis in a group of B cell lymphomas s tained with the antibody L26. Loss of nuclear morphological detail may lead to difficulty in identifying cells accurately, which is importan t in the diagnostic setting-for example, when trying to distinguish a malignant lymphoid infiltrate within a mixed cell popullation. In such cases it would clearly be wise to consider the use of alternative hig h temperature retrieval methods and accept their slightly lower staini ng enhancement capability compared with the microwave technique.