Enhanced staining for Leu M1 (CD15) in Hodgkin's disease using a secondary antibody specific for immunoglobulin M.
The utility of staining for Leu M1 (CD15) as a diagnostic aid in Hodgkin's disease has been questioned because of a relative lack of specificity and sensitivity. Furthermore, interpretation is often made difficult by staining that tends to be weak and focal. Because the murine monoclonal anti-Leu M1 antibody is of immunoglobulin M type, it is reasonable to wonder whether improved immunohistochemical staining might result from use of a secondary goat antibody specific for the mouse mu heavy chain instead of the traditional one against mouse immunoglobulin. The two methods were compared, using a biotin-avidin detection system, on paraffin sections from 15 cases of Hodgkin's disease: 9 nodular sclerosing, 1 mixed cellularity, and 5 of nodular lymphocytic and histiocytic (L&H) type. In the nodular sclerosing/mixed cellularity group, the mu-specific detection method resulted in a greater number of cases with reactive Hodgkin's cells (7 versus 5), stained an average of more than three times as many neoplastic cells in each case (49% versus 14%), and usually produced staining that was distinctly more intense, often in a membrane and paranuclear distribution characteristic of Leu M1 in Hodgkin's cells. In the noLeu M1 in Hodgkin's cells. In the nodular L&H group, 1 case showed weak, focal staining with the newer method. None of the L&H cases stained using the traditional technique. It is concluded that use of a second-stage antibody that is directed specifically against mu heavy chains results in an improvement in immunohistochemical staining for Leu M1 in paraffin sections, which is of practical significance.
LeBrun
D P
DP
Department of Pathology, Stanford University Medical Center, California.
Kamel
O W
OW
Dorfman
R F
RF
Warnke
R A
RA
D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis*; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic / Q000032:analysis*; D006041:Goats; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000276:immunology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D016256:Lewis X Antigen; D051379:Mice
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015703:Antigens, CD; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D016256:Lewis X Antigen