Comparative evaluation of a novel adhesive- Histoweld ™ for immunohistochemistry: A non-inferiority study

To evaluate the performance of adhesive I (Histoweld ™ ) and compare it with routinely used adhesive II (poly-l-lysine).

A total of 33 routinely used immunohistochemistry (IHC) antibodies specific for 11 different organs were selected for the study. Adhesive I (Histoweld ™ )- and adhesive II (poly-l-lysine)-coated slides were subjected to IHC, respectively, as per standard laboratory protocol in a blinded manner. The stained slides were evaluated for any tissue floatation, detachment, patchy loss, or folding of section. The staining was evaluated in terms of specificity, intensity, and signal: background noise. Positively charged slides served as reference.

Adhesive I-coated slides provided satisfactory tissue adhesion. There was no significant tissue loss during heat-induced epitope retrieval and other steps of IHC staining. Results showed optimal and comparable immunostaining in all (100%) selected antibodies. On comparative evaluation, IDH1, Bcl-2, and P53 showed stronger 3+ staining intensity with adhesive I-coated slides compared to adhesive II-coated slides. Bcl-2 showed mild 1+ homogenous background staining with adhesive I. No significant background noise interfering with the interpretation of result was seen with either of the adhesives.

Adhesive I is a cost-effective and reliable alternative to adhesive II, with excellent adhesive performance and promising immunostaining results.