The Effect of Microwave Processing on Histochemical Staining Reactions

Microwave techniques for rapid processing of tissue are currently available and are reported to produce excellent light microscopic results when tissues are stained with hematoxylin and eosin. However, the effects of this method on special histochemical staining reactions has not been extensively examined. In this study, sections of liver, pancreas, kidney, lung, adrenal, appendix, and soft tissue were formalin fixed, processed by both standard and microwave techniques, and stained by special histochemical methods. Results showed that microwave processing does not alter staining characteristics of the tissues examined. (The J Histotechnol 13:181, 1990)