Tyramine-amplified immunohistochemical testing using "homemade" biotinylated tyramine is highly sensitive and cost-effective.

Immunohistochemical testing using biotinylated tyramine is a recently described technique that results in a strong amplification of the detection signal using antibodies at very high dilutions. In this report we compare the sensitivity and cost-effectiveness of the technique using "homemade" biotinylated tyramine with those of two commercially available kits. The technique using homemade tyramine was easy to follow and highly sensitive and resulted in a 2.5- to 5-fold reduction in costs compared with the commercial kits. Tyramine-amplified immunohistochemical testing using homemade biotinylated tyramine is a valuable and inexpensive tool for both the diagnostic and experimental histopathology laboratory.