IHC - Desmin Test

Desmin is mainly an intermediate filament of a protein of the smooth as well as striated muscles. IHC-Desmin, or in other words immunohistochemistry desmin, is a particular test that is used to distinguish between mesothelial cells and carcinoma in serous fluid during the cell block preparations. The sole purpose of the test is to get a better insight of the immunohistochemical stains for desmin while discriminating mesothelial cells from adenocarcinoma in the serous fluid at the time of cell block preparations. The test is highly beneficial for the purpose of detecting tumors of myogenic origin.

The test is performed on a sample of a paraffin-embedded tissue, so there are no special arrangements that are required to be made. Also, there are no fixed constraints for the patients. They can easily follow any diet schedule on the day of the test. They should also keep the doctors updated if they have any kind of allergies, or if they are allergic to any sort of drugs.

IHC-Desmin is highly useful for the purpose of studying the specific hematologic cells. It helps the doctors to cultivate the unknown cells and also to detect the presence or absence of the antigen which, in turn, can used to classify the cell of interest. It helps the medical practitioners to detect skeletal muscle tumors irrespective of gender or age.

Desmin immunohistochemistry is mainly done using the immunohistochemistry method on a biopsy tissue sample. The tissue from where the specimen required to be obtained is first washed using an alcohol or spirit pad. It is then soaked in formalin (10% neutral buffered formalin) and is then embedded with paraffin. An unstained slide of about 4 - 5 microns is first taken for H and E staining and another two to three positively charged slides for each test/ antibody as ordered by the doctor. The block and slide identifiers must be clearly written and it should also match with the ID of the specimen. A cold pack is then used for transporting the sample. However, the lab attendants must also make sure that they are storing it in a refrigerator.