[Histonet] Alk. Phos. on P/S.

[mtitford <@t> aol.com]

John Baker and Erik Waldorff ask about alkaline phosphatase on paraffin sections-
 
Light years ago we used to do alkaline phosphatase on paraffin sections using a method of Gormori, modified by Lillie. There were some caveats though:
1) The fixative was cold acetone
2) The time in paraffin was was short
3) It used the old calcium phosphate method with sodium beta glycerophosphate as the substrate. Then we counterstained with methyl green.
 
It worked just fine, and we got excellent results. EDTA decalcification is pretty benign and should not affect it much. I think the Sigma kit is for detecting alkaline phosphatase in blood smears which have been briefly fixed. I forgot my biochemistry years ago, but there also may be different alkaline phosphastases so you must select the right substrate.
 
The procedure is on page 243 of Drury & Wallingtons "Carleton's Histological Technique" fourth edition. Oxford University Press 1967
 
Mike Titford
Pathology
USA Mobile AL USA
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