THE USE OF MICROWAVE IRRADIATION FOR IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY - A NEW METHODOLOGICAL PROPOSAL

We developed a rapid immunohistochemical method using a microwave oven in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections from normal and patholo gical tissues. The strongest immunoreactivity was obtained for actin, Ca 125, CEA, pan-cytokeratin, chromogranin A, EMA, GFAP, thyroglobulin , kappa and lambda chains. In control tissues, processed with conventi onal immunocytochemical procedure, the reactivity was found to be qual itatively and quantitatively similar. Dako EPOS kits were also assayed with good staining intensity, shortening the original technique to 16 min. Our microwave immuno-histochemical method is simple, rapid and i t may be recommended for use in routine laboratories.