A formalin fixative for immunochemical and ultrastructural studies on gastrointestinal endocrine cells.

Using indirect immunofluorescence, indirect immunoperoxidase, and unlabelled antibody enzyme techniques, gastrin, pancreatic glucagon, insulin, and somatostatin were localised in sections of both wax- and resin-embedded tissues that had been fixed in a buffered formalin solution. Ultrastructural preservation of the resin-embedded samples was also adequate for combined electron microscopy and light microscope immunochemistry. As the fixative concerned is stable it can be permanently available in surgical units. It is suggested, therefore, that this fixative should prove useful as an alternative to buffered formaldehyde, which must be freshly prepared from paraformaldehyde powder, in institutions where specimen collection is difficult or which have to refer cases with an endocrine involvement to other laboratories for immunochemical and fine structural examination.