In situ localisation of Yersinia enterocolitica by catalysed reported deposition signal amplification

Abstract

Aim: The sensitive detection of pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica in paraffin embedded tissue sections by in situ hybridisation (ISH).

Methods: Y enterocolitica infected cell lines, rat spleens, and patient biopsy specimens were used to compare conventional ISH, immune fluorescence assay (IFA) detection, and catalysed reporter deposition (CARD) signal amplification ISH.

Results: CARD-ISH was shown to be more sensitive then conventional ISH and had a comparable sensitivity to IFA. In contrast to IFA, CARD-ISH preserved good tissue morphology.

Conclusions: CARD-ISH appeared to be a fast and sensitive ISH method for detecting Y enterocolitica in routinely processed tissue sections. Application of this method allows the combination of routine detection and cellular localisation of the pathogen within the infected tissue.