I'm interested also.  We just began a transplant unit and we will be seeing
a lot more renal specimens.  The pathologist still wants to use IF.

Joe Nocito, B.S., HT(ASCP)QIHC
Histology Supervisor
Christus Santa Rosa Hospitals
San Antonio, Texas 


> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Katri Tuomala [SMTP:katri@istar.ca]
> Sent:	Wednesday, July 28, 1999 7:39 PM
> To:	Ian
> Cc:	HistoNet@Pathology.swmed.edu
> Subject:	Re: Re renal biopsies and neutral buffered formalin
> 
> Dear Ian,
> Would you share with us your protocol for demonstrating immune complexes
> in formalin fixed paraffin embedded renal biopsies. In my experience it
> is not the easiest thing to unmask the immune complexes within the
> basement membrane  and at the same time eliminate the staining of
> trapped serum in the capillaries. I do have a protocol that works quite
> reliably with trypsin digestion, but I have not had a very good success
> with the linear staining of Goodpasture's syndrome. Routinely we still
> do the old direct immunofluorescence method on frozen sections. I would
> be very interested to hear (read), what other labs are doing to
> demonstrate the immuno complexes in renal biopsies.
> In anticipation, Katri.
> 
> Katri Tuomala
> Anatomic Pathology
> St.Joseph's Hospital
> Hamilton, Ontario, Canada