Evaluation of immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization methods for the detection of enteroviruses using infected cell culture samples

Background: Enterovirus infections are frequent in all age groups. In addition to acute infections, they have been connected to chronic diseases such as cardiomyopathies and type 1 diabetes. Based on this there is an increasing need for the reliable detection of enteroviruses in different kinds of tissue samples. Objectives: The aim of this study was to set up a test panel which can detect a wide range of different enteroviruses in paraffin-embedded samples and fresh frozen samples using immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization methods. Study design: A panel of nine enterovirus antibodies was optimized for the detection of different enterovirus types in both paraffin-embedded and frozen cell culture samples. In addition, an oligonucleotide probe detecting all human enteroviruses was evaluated for ISH in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded cell culture samples. Results: Most antibodies worked well in both sample types. Some antibodies detected only one of the tested serotypes, whereas others detected several serotypes. ISH was able to detect all tested enterovirus types. Conclusions: This test panel makes it possible to detect a wide range of different enterovirus types in both formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded and frozen samples. The same methods can also be applied for tissue sections, but may need further optimization for each tissue type. (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.