[Histonet] Destaining Cytology Slides

[Bauer, Karen]

Hello to all...
 
First, I would like to thank everyone for their help with our tissue adherence problem.  I believe we were touching the slides too much before putting the tissue on them and we have really been watching that.  Especially now, with winter and the cold weather, since we tend to use a lot of lotion on our hands.  Sections have been staying on better, so hopefully that was the problem.
 
Secondly, a question about destaining cytology smears before staining them with an IP stain.  Do you or don't you destain the smear before running the IP stain.  I've searched many articles and it seems to be 50/50.  Some do and some don't.  We regularly do not destain the smears, since they seem to destain with the reagents during the run and turn out fine.  One of our pathologists started asking for the smears to be destained first and they look fine as well.  So, if both look good, why destain beforehand?  Does the PAP or Diff Quik stain really mask the antigens enough to prevent IP staining?  Some articles stated that decolorizing could actually denature the antigen and prevent antibody binding.  Any explanations would be helpful.
 
Thanks in advance,
 
Karen Bauer HT(ASCP)
Histology Supervisor
Luther Hospital
Eau Claire, WI
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