Is There a Difference Between the Direct Immunofluorescence Slides Stored at Room Temperature in Bright Versus Dark Conditions?

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Direct immunofluorescence (DIF)-stained slides are archived in the dark to prevent fading. Reevaluation of slides for clinical evaluation and training may be needed. In this study we aimed to determine the duration of archiving in dark environment (DE) versus bright environment (BE) in order to evaluate DIF positive stained slides. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 56 immunofluorescence slides consisting of 35 kidney and 21 skin biopsies were included in the study. RESULTS: The mean wilting time of the slides was 7.5 weeks for those left in the BE and 7.1 weeks for those in the DE. The mean wilting times of the kidney slides left in BE and DE were 6.8 and 7.2 weeks, respectively. The mean wilting times of the skin slides left in a BE and DE were 8.2 and 7 weeks, respectively. CONCLUSION: We did not observe a significant difference between immunofluorescence (IF) slides archived in light versus dark media. The fact that there was no difference between the fading times between immunofluorescence slides stored in BE and DE showed that the duration of exposure to immunofluorescence microscopy light was more important than the environments where they were kept from fading on slides.