Detection of blood group A and H-related antigens in normal and neoplastic bladder epithelium: a comparative study using monoclonal antibodies with defined fine specificities.

Three monoclonal anti-blood group H and four monoclonal anti-blood group A antibodies directed at the blood group antigens on Type 1 or Type 2 backbone structures were evaluated as immunohistochemical reagents by indirect immunofluorescence of normal and neoplastic bladder epithelia. The results were compared with fluorescence using polyclonal rabbit anti-A or H sera or Ulex europaeus lectin. The monoclonal antibodies gave less intense or more restricted immunofluorescence than the conventional reagents but showed considerable variation in the extent of their reactivities with urothelial samples from different individuals. In some cases they failed to give immunofluorescence with tissue samples known to contain the immunodominant blood group structures they recognize. In addition, hitherto unsuspected heterogeneity was revealed in the expression of the Type 2-based blood group H and A-structures in the endothelia of neighbouring small blood vessels.