THE ENVISION(TM)- A NEW IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL METHOD FOR DIAGNOSTICS AND RESEARCH - CRITICAL COMPARISON WITH THE APAAP, CHEMMATE(TM), CSA, LABC, AND SABC TECHNIQUES( SYSTEM )

Aim-To assess a newly developed immunohistochemical detection system, the EnVision(TM)+. Methods-A large series of differently processed nor mal and pathological samples and 53 relevant monoclonal antibodies wer e chosen. A chessboard titration assay was used to compare the results provided by the EnVision(TM)+ system with those of the APAAP, CSA, LS AB, SABC, and ChemMate(TM) methods, when applied either manually or in a TechMate 500 immunostainer. Results-With the vast majority of the a ntibodies, EnVision(TM)+ allowed two- to fivefold higher dilutions tha n the APAAP, LSAB, SABC, and ChemMate(TM) techniques, the staining int ensity and percentage of expected positive cells being the same. With some critical antibodies (such as the anti-CDS), it turned out to be s uperior in that it achieved consistently reproducible results with dif ferently fixed or overfixed samples. Only the CSA method, which includ es tyramide based enhancement, allowed the same dilutions as the EnVis ion(TM)+ system, and in one instance (with the anti-cyclin D1 antibody ) represented the gold standard. Conclusions-The EnVision(TM)+ is an e asy to use system, which avoids the possibility of disturbing endogeno us biotin and lowers the cost per test by increasing the dilutions of the primary antibodies. Being a two step procedure, it reduces both th e assay time and the workload.