[Histonet] Eosin in Alcohol

[Jennifer Johnson]

A couple of weeks ago I posted the message below on the histonet and all of you responded that it shouldn't matter so I have finally gotten a reply from the company we send our prostate biopsies off to and below is their response.  So now you know the rest of the story!

 

We have used Eosin in the last 95% alcohol on the tissue processor for several years. I usually add approximately 5 ml to the full jug. It is a great tool to use for embedding. However, we received a letter from the lab that we send our prostate biopsies to saying that it was undesirable because it interfered with their immuno staining. They sent us some cobalt blue to use in the place of eosin along with mixing instructions and the whole batch of tissues came out such a dark blue. There is no delineations in the color of the blue and I found it to be useless for helping to embed. I would rather do without anything than use cobalt blue. I guess the point of my rambling is, Eosin is a wonderful tool to use unless you are doing immunos on prostate biopsies. 
 
Thanks,
 
Jennifer Johnson, HTL (ASCP) 


Their reply:  "The problem is that eosin belongs to a family of polycyclic aromatic flourescent compounds that in high concentrations binds to and saturates all tissue  components.  When immunoflourescence is performed on such tissue- as in the prostate px+ test- the diffuse background autoflourescence signal from prior treatment with these compounds can interfere with, and even totally overwhelm, the signal of the flourescent-labeled antibodies used to localize biomarkers in the tissue."

 

 

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