[Histonet] Isopropyl Alcohol in the histology lab

[Teri Johnson]

Dear colleagues,

I am entertaining the notion of switching over to isopropyl alcohol (IPA) for our tissue processing and have a few questions. I know the xylene-free processing and microwave processing protocols use this universally, but at this time I am only interested in getting rid of the ethanol/methanol/isopropyl alcohol blend.

1 - Are there any known issues with holding tissues in 70% IPA rather than 70% ethanol/reagent alcohol?
2 - Is there any impact on the stain line if you use it for H&Es and hydration/dehydration of histochemically stained slides?
3 - Have any of you who use IPA found any impact on immunoreactivity when compared to using other dehydrants?
4 - Is there anything else I have overlooked?

We have pure ethanol available to us if needed for particular stain applications.

Best wishes, and thanks in advance.

Teri Johnson
Manager, Histology
GNF - San Diego, CA
858-332-4752