[Histonet] Implications of Various Fixatives

[Lee & Peggy Wenk]

The September 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 3) issue of the Journal of Histotechnology
had a lot of good articles on fixation.
 
M. Lamar Jones. To Fix, To Harden, To Preserve - Fixation: A Brief History.
pp. 155-162
 
Michael Titford. Safety Considerations in the Use of Fixatives. pp. 165-171
 
Isam Eltoum, Jerry Fredenburgh, Russel B. Myers, William E. Grizzle.
Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Fixation of Tissue. pp. 181-190
(with great charts. One has the different types of fixatives and how they
effect proteins / lipids / RNA / DNA / Ultrastructure as well as time issues
and special uses. A second chart lists required/best fixative for histology
special stains and/or fixatives to be avoided. It also has formulas for a
lot of different fixatives.)
 
Isam Eltoum, Jerry Fredenburgh, William E. Grizzle. Advanced Concepts in
Fixation: 1. Effects of Fixation on Immunohistochemistry, Reversibility of
Fixation and Recovery of Proteins, Nucleic Acids, and other Molecules from
Fixed and Processed Tissues. 2. Developmental Methods of Fixation. pp.
201-210.
 
William E. Grizzle, Cecil R. Stockard, Paul E. Billings. The Effects of
Tissue Processing Variables Other than Fixation on Histochemical Staining
and Immunohistochemical Detection of Antigens. pp. 213 - 219. (I know this
has nothing to do with fixation, but processing DOES influence staining, so
I thought I'd add it.)

These don't quite cover everything you were asking, but it's a start. A lot
of "don't use fixative X when needing to demonstrate Ab Y" is found on each
manufacturer's specification sheet for the antibodies. 

Possibly the NSH Office still has copies of this issue (for a price). I
don't know. 301-262-6221 or histo <@t> nsh.org

Or possibly the authors of these articles are histonetters, and might still
have author copies, and would let you know.

Peggy A. Wenk, HTL(ASCP)SLS
William Beaumont Hospital
Royal Oak, MI 48073

-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of
bliven.laura <@t> marshfieldclinic.org
Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 1:45 PM
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: [Histonet] Implications of Various Fixatives


Does anyone know of a good published reference addressing various fixatives
and their reactions on certain immuno's, special stains and artifacts?  I
understand that there is a chance that tissue fixed in Bouin and Hollande
fixatives can cause false-negative immuno results in some lymphoma markers
and found another mention of a certain fixative causing a false-negative
result in the Steiner and Steiner.  Also it would be great to see the pH of
all the fixatives along with information such as "Do not allow Hollande's
fixed specimens to come in contact with phosphate buffered formalin, a blue
precipitate (artifact) occurs" - and is this what some articles refer to as
being "incompatible with NBF"? 
Thanks much,
Laura

Laura Bliven
Histology Lab/IHC
Marshfield Laboratories
1000 N. Oak Ave.
Marshfield, WI 54449




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