A new methodology for the improvement of diagnostic immunohistochemistry in canine veterinary pathology: automated system using human monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies

Abstract

The authors describe their experience with an automated immunohistochemical system applied to canine tissue samples. Twenty human cellular markers specific monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies and two different antigen retrieval methods were used in normal and neoplastic breast tissue, as well as skin samples obtained from female dogs of pure and mixed breeds. The antibodies tested were the most frequently used in human and veterinary medicine studies, employed with diagnostic purposes in breast pathology, as well as in cancer research. Most of them may be used to study other normal and abnormal tissues and included cytokeratins, progesterone receptor, c-erbB2, p53, MIB-1, PCNA, EMA, vimentin, desmin, alpha-actin, S-100, pan-cadherin, and E-cadherin. The results demonstrated that using an automated staining system it is possible to use different human markers in veterinary pathology. The advantages of automated immunohistochemistry are improved quality, reproducibility, speed, and standardisation.