title: Immunohistological detection of human parvovirus B19 in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues.
abstract: Human parvovirus B19 is a cause of aplastic crises in patients with haemolytic anaemias, prolonged bone marrow failure in the immunosuppressed, and fetal death secondary to non-immune hydrops. The immunohistological detection of parvovirus B19 in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues has not previously been reported, and definitive diagnosis of infection in such specimens has relied on the use of specialized DNA hybridization and amplification techniques. A new monoclonal antibody to B19 capsid proteins, R92F6, was found to be capable of labelling infected cells in paraffin-embedded tissues from all 19 cases of parvovirus-related fetal hydrops tested, and in bone marrow from a child with congenital immunodeficiency and chronic parvovirus infection. Viral antigen was detected both in cytoplasmic and in nuclear distributions using the alkaline phosphatase anti-alkaline phosphatase (APAAP) technique without preceding proteolytic digestion. The viral epitope recognized appears to be highly conserved, as specimens were obtained over a 13-year period from widely spaced locations in the U.K. Antibody R92F6 should facilitate rapid diagnosis of parvovirus B19 infection in routinely processed and archival specimens.
authors.affiliation: University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Pathology and Bacteriology, John Radcliffe Hospital, U.K.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Morey
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.forename: P V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Coyle
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Fleming
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000382:microbiology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000276:immunology; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000276:immunology; D005333:Fetus / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D015160:Hydrops Fetalis / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D010322:Parvoviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D016732:Parvovirus B19, Human / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016511:Severe Combined Immunodeficiency / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral