Special Methods of Staining

SPECIAL METHODS OF STAINING

Stains for Connective Tissue

  • Mallory’s phosphotungstic acid hematoxylin stain
  • Verhoeff’s elastic stain
  • Van Gieson’s stain : collagen – red; other tissues – yellow.

Stains for Cytoplasmic granules

  • Luna’s mast cells stain
  • Gomori’s chromaffin stain

Stains for Fats and Lipids

  • Fat in tissues are dissolved out by xylol and alcohol by the conventional methods. To stain fat, frozen sections are prepared and stained
  • Oil red O fat stain
  • Sudan black B stain
  • Osmium tetraoxide stain

Stains for Carbohydrate and Mucoproteins

  • Best’s carmine stain – Glycogen stains bright red
  • Mayer’s mucicarmine stain
  • Crystal violet and Bennhold’s Congo Red Amyloid stain

Stains for Pigments, Minerals and  Glycogen

  • Gomori’s Iron reaction
  • Vonkossa’s stain for calcium
  • Perl’s stain for Iron containing pigment (haemosiderin) stains blue
  • De Galantha’s method for urate crystals
  • Svain’s bile pigment stain

Stains for Bacteria and Fungi

  • Ziehl – Neelsen’s stain to demonstrate Mycobacteria - Acid fast organisms stain pink
  • Brown and Brenn stain for bacteria in tissues
  • Periodic acid - schiff stain for fungi
  • Gridley’s stain for fungi - Fungal elements appear violet or pink against yellow background

Stains for Inclusions

  • Triple’s shorr’s stain
  • Parson’s stain for Negri bodies
Last modified: Saturday, 24 September 2011, 7:21 AM