Which one to choose for anti-cytokeratin immunohistochemistry in small gastric biopsies: Bleached Periodic acid schiff- Alcian blue (PAB) or May Grunwald Giemsa (MGG) sections?

Abstract

Endoscopic biopsies are commonly used for diagnosis in gastrointestinal tractus diseases. The dimensions of the biopsy samples taken during endoscopic examination may sometimes not allow additional examinations or the tissues may become smaller during routine technical procedures. In gastric endoscopic biopsies, hematoxylin&eosin (H&E) staining, Periodic acid schiff- Alcian blue (PAB) histochemistry for intestinal metaplasia, and giemsa histochemistry for Helicobacter pylori are used routinely in many in laboratories. In cases where tumor is suspected, immunohistochemical staining is performed in addition to these stainings. The most commonly performed staining is anti-cytokeratin. For various reasons, additional staining applied to materials with reduced tissue size may not yield results. In this case, the patient may need to undergo an endoscopic examination again for definitive diagnosis. To avoid or at least minimize this situation, this study is planned to evaluate the diagnostic usability of restaining with anti-cytokeratin on bleached PAB and MGG sections that were performed for routine examination.

Keywords

• Anti-cytokeratin
• Bleaching
• Restaining
• Periodic acid schiff- Alcian blue
• May Grunwald Giemsa

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