Histochemical and immunohistochemical protocols for routine biopsies embedded in Lowicryl resin

Tissue processing and analysis require good preservation of both the shape and content of cells. Lowicryl resin is one of the few embedding media that allow good preservation of both tissue architecture and cellular contents. Therefore, different histochemical and immunohistochemical reactions can be applied to semithin sister sections from one biopsy. Further examination of a zone of interest can be carried out under the electron microscope. The hydrophilic property of Lowicryl resins makes possible different histochemical reactions; however, the technique used for paraffin sections must be adapted for each reaction. Antigenic preservation of cells by low temperature embedding allows immunolabeling on either semithin sections or in the zone of interest on ultrathin sections. We have shown the application and adaptation of different histochemical and immunohistochemical reactions on semithin and ultrathin sections from hepatic biopsies that were large, but thin. The variety of techniques that can be used on sister Lowicryl sections of a single biopsy makes this medium useful for extensive pathological studies of precious needle biopsies.