Immunohistochemical detection of brain tissue in heated meat products

Immunohistochemical methods were used to determine whether brain tissue could be detected in test batches of meat products prepared with known levels of this tissue (0, 1, 5, 10, or 20% bovine brain tissue or 5% porcine brain tissue). Four different, commercially-available antibodies were examined: anti-Neurofilament (anti-NF), anti-MyelinBasicProtein (anti-MBP), anti-NeuronSpecificEnolase (anti-NSE) and anti-GlialFibrillaryAcidicProtein (anti-GFAP). Results obtained with the four antibodies differed with the heat treatment applied to the products (pasteurisation or sterilisation). The amount of immunoreaction product in the raw meat product varied with the antibody, even when the sample contained the same amount of brain tissue. The staining pattern also varied with the antibody. Overall, the anti-MBP antibody proved to be most useful in detecting brain tissue in finely comminuted heated meat products.