immunohistochemistry – F.I.G.H.T for your health!

Cancer Diagnostics with comments from Dr. Gordon

Linda — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 06:41:49 +0000

The future of cancer diagnosis is changing rapidly. This new technique is very exciting and they mention that current techniques are woefully inadequate. This new approach is much faster and seems much more accurate.

It does require taking a fine needle aspirate whereas cell search does not need biopsies but maybe the cell search technique will somehow become even better and could be synergistic with this new technique of protein analysis vs staining cells.

Garry F. Gordon MD,DO,MD(H)
President, Gordon Research Institute
www.gordonresearch.com

Link: http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/3/71/71ra16.abstract?sid=4b7ffcb3-8cd5-451d-b9d8-fb99f34244c4

Excerpt:

Although tumor cells obtained from human patients by image-guided intervention are a valuable source for diagnosing cancer, conventional means of analysis are limited. Here, we report the development of a Micro-NMR for Rapid Molecular Analysis of Human Tumor Samples
for rapid, multiplexed analysis of human tumors. We implemented the technology in a clinical setting to analyze cells obtained by fine-needle aspirates from suspected lesions in 50 patients and validated the results in an independent cohort of another 20 patients. Single fine-needle aspirates yielded sufficient numbers of cells to enable quantification of multiple protein markers in all patients within 60 min.

Chlamydia pneumoniae & Alzheimers

Linda — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 05:14:39 +0000

Full article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2202-11-121.pdf

Excerpt:

Conclusions

Anti-C. pneumoniae antibodies, obtained commercially, identified both typical intracellular and atypical extracellular C. pneumoniae antigens in frontal and temporal cortices of the AD brain. C. pneumoniae, amyloid deposits, and neurofibrillary tangles were present in the same regions of the brain in apposition to one another. Although additional studies are required to conclusively characterize the nature of Chlamydial immunoreactivity in the AD brain, these results further implicate C. pneumoniae infection with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease

Association of Carotid Plaque Lp-PLA2 with Macrophages & Infection

Linda — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 20:20:41 +0000

Excerpt:

The significant association of plaque Lp-PLA2 with plaque macrophages and C. pneumoniae suggests an interactive role in accelerating inflammation in atherosclerosis. A possible mechanism for C. pneumoniaein the atherogenic process may involve infection of macrophages that induce Lp-PLA2 production leading to upregulation of inflammatory mediators in plaque tissue. Additional in vitro and in vivo research will be needed to advance our understanding of specific C. pneumoniae and Lp-PLA2 interactions in atherosclerosis.

Effects of Prolonged Formalin Fixation

Linda — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 05:01:30 +0000

Full article: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pu
bmed&id=20332424&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

Three pathologists graded immunoreactivity according
to a four-tier grading system: negative, weak, moderate, strong.
Canine parvoviral immunoreactivity was markedly decreased
following 2, 7, and 10 weeks of fixation in myocardium, small
intestine, and spleen, respectively. Bovine respiratory syncytial
virus immunoreactivity was markedly decreased following 7 weeks
of fixation. Bartonella henselae had an abrupt loss of
immunoreactivity following 9 weeks of fixation. Despite variation
among time points, immunoreactivity remained moderate to strong
throughout the study period for the other 18 antigens. These
results suggest that prolonged formalin fixation of up to 7 weeks
generally does not limit immunohistochemical detection of
infectious agents. However, the effects of prolonged fixation
depend on the targeted antigen and the selected antibody. The
results of this study further validate the utility and
reliability of immunohistochemistry in diagnostic pathology.

Borrelia in granuloma annulare

Linda — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:52:47 +0000

Background: Morphea, granuloma annulare (GA) and lichen sclerosus et atrophicans (LSA) have also been suggested to be linked to Borrelia infection. Previous studies based on serologic data or detection of Borrelia by immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reported contradictory results. Thus, we examined skin biopsies of morphea, GA and LSA by PCR to assess the prevalence of Borrelia DNA in an endemic area and to compare our results with data in the literature.

Methods: Amplification of DNA sequences of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato by nested PCR from formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded skin biopsies of morphea, GA and LSA, followed by automated sequencing of amplification products. PCR-based studies on Borrelia species in these disorders published until July 2009 were retrieved by a literature search.

Results: Borrelia DNA was detected in 3 of 112 skin biopsies (2.7%) including one of 49 morphea biopsies (2.0%), one of 48 GA biopsies (2.1%) and one of 15 LSA biopsies (6.6%). Amplification products belonged to B. burgdorferi sensu stricto in two cases available for sequence analysis.

Conclusions: The results of our and most of other PCR-based studies do not argue for a significant association of B. burgdorferi sensu lato with morphea, GA, LSA.

Journal of Cutaneous Pathology, 12/21/09

10.1111/j.1600-0560.2009.01493.x

Therese Zollinger ¹ , Kirsten D. Mertz ¹ , Mirka Schmid ¹ , Anja Schmitt ^1,2 , Madeleine Pfaltz ¹ and Werner Kempf ^1,3

¹ Kempf und Pfaltz Histologische Diagnostik, Zürich, Switzerland , ² Department of Pathology, Institute for Surgical Pathology, University Hospital Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland , and ³ Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

Correspondence to Werner Kempf, MD, Kempf and Pfaltz Histologic Diagnostics, Schaffhauserplatz 3, CH-8006, Zürich, Switzerland
Tel: +41 44 233 3377
Fax: +41 44 233 3378
e-mail: kempf@kempf-pfaltz.ch