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Material, Stain, Result - Stains and Uses
| Stain | Uses |
acid orcein (Pinkus’) | elastic fibers: dark brown, melanin: black, hemosiderin: dark green amyloid: light blue |
Alcian blue | pH 0.5-stains strongly acidic substances such as sulfated glycosaminoglycans; chondrotin sulfate, dermatan sulfate, and heparin pH 2.5- blue color with glycosaminoglycans and sialomucins, less intense with nucleic acids |
aldehyde-fuchsin (Gomori’s) | stains elastic tissue, mucosubstances pH<1 stains sulfated acid mucosubstances, not hyaluronic acid pH 1.7 stains sialomucins, elastic fibers, mast cell granules, mucins, cartilage, some fungi: blue-purple |
Alizarin red S | specific reaction for Ca++ staining: orange-red can cross react with Ba, Cd, Sr, Pb Ca++ oxalate gives (-) reaction; converted to (+) with incineration |
alpha-1-antichymotrypsin | histiocytes |
aniline blue | muscle: red collagen: blue |
ATPase | Langerhans cells, indeterminate cells, dendritic cells |
auramine O immunofluorescent | acid fast bacilli |
Calcofluor white | detects fungi in tissue sections and histologically |
CAM 5.2 | anticytokeratin |
carbol fuchsin | acid fast organisms: red |
cathepsin B | histiocytes |
colloidal iron | binding of colloidal iron by acidic groups; carboxyl and sulfate groups of nucleic acids. AMPS: blue nuclei: red |
De Galantha | urate crystals |
Dieterle stain | spirochetes |
dylon | amyloid |
Fite | acid-fast bacilli: red leprosy: useless |
Fontana-Masson silver (argentaffin) | melanin, some nerves and reticulum fibers: black nuclei: red cross reacts with argentaffin granules, formalin pigment, iron, lipofuscin |
Giemsa | AMPS, mast cell granules: metachromatic purple eosinophils, leishmaniasis, Donovan bodies: red bacteria: blue |
gold chloride | Langerhans cells |
Gomori’s methenamine-silver nitrate | fungus walls: black |
Gram (Brown-Brenn) | Gram-positive bacteria: blue-purple Gram-negative bacteria: red |
Gridley | Coccidioides immitis*** |
gross cystic disease protein | apocrine cells (Paget’s d.) |
hematoxylin and eosin | nuclei, Ca++: blue cytoplasm, collagen, nerve, fibrin: red muscle: dark red |
Leder (chloracetate esterase) | naphtol-ASD-chloracetate-esterase mast cells and PMNs: red |
Leib | amyloid |
lipids | bromine-silver, osmic acid, PAS, sudan black: cholesterol esters and triglycerides: blue-black, P-L: gray Oil red O (unsaturated lipids: red, P-L: pink, stains unsaturated and saturated (frozen section only) If negative with bromine-silver but positive with Sudan dye, then you know lipid is exogenous such as paraffin oil granuloma |
M241 | Langerhans cells, endothelial cells |
MAC-1 | Langerhans cells |
Mallory’s phosphotungstic acid and hematoxylin | fibrin, inclusions of infantile digital fibromatosis |
Masson’s trichrome | hematoxylin, acid fuchsin, and methylene blue collagen, nuclei: blue cytoplasm, muscles, fibrin: red |
Movat’s pentachrome | nuclei: black elastic fibers: dark purple to black collagen: yellow ground substance: blue to bluish green fibrinoid: intense red muscle: red |
mucicarmine | epithelial mucins and capsule of cryptococcus/rhinosporidosis: red (pink) acid mucopolysaccharides, Paget’s cells |
PAS (periodic acid-Schiff) | reactions with glycogens, starches, cellulose, mucosaccharides, glycolipids, unsaturated lipids, phospholipids. Reactive sites become non-reactive after previous treatment with diastase specific for glycogen. No reaction with hyaluronic acid. Stains basement membranes, fungi: red |
Perls | ferric iron |
Phorwhite BBU | amyloid |
phosphotugistic acid-hematoxylin | nuclei: red will not demonstrate Fe++ (ferrous), ferritin, or Hb |
RIT cardinal red #9 | amyloid |
RIT scarlet #5 | amyloid |
scarlet red, Sudan red, Sudan IV, Sudan black | lipid stains |
silver bromide/osmium tertoxide | unsaturated lipids (not exogenous oils) |
silver nitrate (argyrophilic) Bodian/Gomori’s | melanin, reticulum fibers, nerves: black |
sirus red | amyloid |
thionine | acid mucopolysaccharides |
Toluidine blue | AMPS, nucleic acids, mast cell granules: metachromatic purple pH 3.0 most acid mucosubstances show metachromasia pH 1.5 only sulfated substances show metachromasia |
Verhoeff-van Gieson | elastic fibers: black collagen: red nuclei: blue muscles, nerves: yellow |
von Kossa | Not specific for Ca++. Based on recombination of silver with anion salt, carbonate, phosphate, oxalate, and reduction to metallic silver (black) with light. Ca++ salts usually only salt left after routine processing but urates and uric acids sources of error, can be removed by dissolving in lithium carbonate |
Wade stain | atypical mycobacteria |
Warthin-Starry | spirochetes and Donovan bodies: black |
Ziehl-Neelson | acid fast bacilli: red |
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