Effects of Iodine Pretreatment of Sections upon Immunogold-silver Staining in Light Microscopic Immunohistochemistry

Effects of Lugol's iodine pretreatment upon immunogold-silver staining were examined in terms of the intensification of the reaction products obtained by physical development. Iodine pretreatment has diminished the duration necessary for the development, whereas the staining reaction of an appropriate intensity, could hardly be obtained by the pretreatment. In addition, essential staining reactions tended to be accompanied by marked nonspecific silver precipitations. It is concluded that iodine pretreatment should either be omitted or used with cautions in immunogold-silver staining procedures for the precise detection of antigenic sites.