Validation of the endothelial markers Cd31 and Cd34 in Immunohistochemistry of the long saphenous vein for coronary artery bypass surgery

Objectives: Endothelial injury during a surgical intervention can significantly affect the functional status of the vein. The endothelial layer plays a vital role in the long saphenous vein for ensuring smooth blood flow and the prevention of vasoconstriction and thrombi formation within the blood vessels. There are few histological studies comparing the different vein harvesting techniques that have studied endothelial layer integrity using CD31 and CD34 on human long saphenous veins. Methods: Non-distended vein samples measuring 1cm were obtained from ten consecutive traditional open vein harvesting patients and were automatically processed and stained using immunohistochemistry for CD31 and CD34. The colour, intensity and distribution of the staining on the tissues was scored blindly by five independent scientists and an expert histopathologist for this study. Results: The CD34 antibody demonstrated greater colour (p<0.007), intensity (p<0.019) and distribution (p<0.007) compared to CD31. Conclusion: Our study indicates that CD34 provides a more reliable endothelial marker in the long saphenous vein than CD31. The results of this study can be translate into other immunohistochemistry studies looking at the quality of the endothelium on the vein in cardiac and vascular surgical studies.