Influence of different fixatives on immunohistochemical staining of frozen sections

Objective To evaluate the influence of different fixatives on immunohistochemical staining of frozen sections and to find the most suitable fixative for immunohistochemical staining of frozen sections.Methods Immunohistochemical staining was done for frosen sections which were respectively fixed for 5 min in 6 different fixatives,including 95% alcohole,4% formaldehyde,methanol,acetone,EAF(containing 85% absolute ethanol,5% glacial acetic acid and 4% formaldehyde) and AAF(containing 85% acetone,5% glacial acetic acid and 4% formaldehyde).The staining results were analyzed with the scoring standards recommended by the Immunohistochemistry Quality Control Center,Committee Chinese Pathologists.Results Different fixative could make direct influence on the quality of immunohistochemical staining for frozen sections and even caused false negative results.Compared with the other 5 fixatives,mixed fixative EAF contributed to better immunohistochemical staining.Conclusion EAF solution was more suitable to be used as a fixtive for immunohistochemical staining of frozen sections than the other 5 fixtives.