HISTO LAB pt 3 STAINS

Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS)

oxidizes the carbohydrates, creating the aldehyde groups

Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS)

reacts with the aldehydes, producing a magenta or purple color

PAS

Best carmine

Langhan’s iodine

stains for CARBOHYDRATES

1. Carbohydrates

2. Glycogen

3. Glycoprotein

Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) for

Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS)

It is also useful in kidney and liver pathology to detect the basement membrane thickening and diabetic nephropathy.

Best Carmine Stain

It forms a strong complex with the glycogen, making it highly specific. It is highly selective for glycogen and tissue, which appear as bright red.

Best Carmine Stain

This is used in liver and muscle biopsies to assess the glycogen storage diseases.

Langhan’s Iodine Stain

______ binds to the glycogen, producing a characteristic mahogany brown color.

Uranyl Nitrate Azure Stain

Used specifically for acid mucopolysaccharides

Uranyl Nitrate Azure Stain

Its key component is the ____ that binds with the acidic substances, producing a red-violet or crimson coloration.

Uranyl Nitrate Azure Stain

This stain is particularly useful in identifying mucinous tumors and connective tissue disorders.

Gomori’s Aldehyde Stain / Gomori’s Aldehyde Fuchsin Stain

Contains the fuchsin dye, which reacts with acid mucopolysaccharide and endocrine organs such as thyroid glands and islets of langerhans in the pancreas.

Gomori’s Aldehyde Stain / Gomori’s Aldehyde Fuchsin Stain

The result is a pink-to-red stain. This makes it useful in studying endocrine gland pathologies like thyroid diseases and pancreatic disorders.

Gram’s Iodine Stain

This stain is used for detecting the amyloid and starch deposits, which appear deep blue.

Alcian Blue Stain (lead fixative)

Commonly used stain that highlights the mucopolysaccharides

Alcian Blue Stain (lead fixative)

It binds selectively to the substances, producing a blue coloration.

Fluorescent Acridine Orange Stain

This is particularly useful for detecting the acidic mucopolysaccharide and fungal elements.

Fluorescent Acridine Orange Stain

This stain binds the acidic MPS or mucopolysaccharide appearing black while the fungal elements exhibit green fluorescence and the background appears orange to red.

Fluorescent Acridine Orange Stain

A powerful tool in identifying fungal infections alongside your mucopolysaccharide related conditions.

Kraijan’s Congo Red Stain

Gold standard for Amyloid detection

Kraijan’s Congo Red Stain

This stain contains your Congo Red dye which selectively binds your amyloid deposits resulting in a red coloration.

Kraijan’s Congo Red Stain

This stain is crucial for diagnosing your amyloidosis , particularly in conditions where excessive amyloid accumulation leads to an organ dysfunction such as your cardiac, renal, or neurological amyloidosis

Kraijan’s Congo Red Stain

This stain is particularly valuable in identifying mucinous tumors, cartilage components or goblet cell mucin making it relevant in gastrointestinal and connective tissue pathology

Mallory’s Phosphotungstic Acid- Hematoxylin

Primarily used for muscle tissue.

Mallory’s Phosphotungstic Acid- Hematoxylin

This contains your Phosphotungstic Acid and Hematoxylin, which selectively stains muscle primers black.

Tartrazine Stain

This contains your Lissamine Fast Red

Tartrazine Stain

A dye that stains your muscles red. This staining method highlights your muscle fibers and your structural components making it useful for differentiating muscle tissue in complex histology.

Balsam Stain

This is used for bone tissues.

Balsam Stain

Heated Balsam is applied to the sample, staining the Lamellae of bones from brown to black.

Balsam Stain

This stain is particularly useful in studying your bone microarchitecture , mineralization patterns, and structural integrity, helping in the diagnosis of osteoporosis, fractures, and even your metabolic bone diseases.

Balsam Stain

This is often applied in your muscle pathology to assist conditions such as your muscular dystrophies and inflammatory myopathies.

1. Mallory’s Phosphotungstic Acid- Hematoxylin

2. Tartrazine Stain

3. Balsam Stain

stains for muscles and bones

HgCl

Van Gieson Stain (Fix: ______)

A classic method for staining your collagen fibers.

Van Gieson Stain

Contains your Picric Acid and Acid Fuchsin.

Van Gieson Stain

Restains

• Collagen: pink to red ,

• Cytoplasm: yellow and

• Nuclei: brownish black to black.

Van Gieson Stain

This stain is highly useful in differentiating your collagen from muscle fibers .

Masson Trichrome Stain

Widely used for detecting collagen.

Masson Trichrome Stain

Uses aniline blue or light green for Collagen, puncture red S for Cytoplasm, and Hematoxylin for nuclei resulting in collagen appearing green or blue, cytoplasm: red and nuclei: black

Masson Trichrome Stain

This stain is particularly useful in evaluating fibrosis in your liver cirrhosis and myocardial infarction.

Mallory’s Trichrome Stain

Uses aniline blue, acid fuchsin, and orange G allowing differentiation of your collagen with stains red and elastic fibers which stains yellow

Mallory’s Trichrome Stain

This stain is particularly helpful in studying connective tissue integrity in conditions like your atherosclerosis, fibrosis, and muscular disorders.

Azocarmine Stain

This is used for highlighting fine details of your connective tissue .

Azocarmine Stain

This contains your aniline blue and azocarmine; staining your connective tissues: deep blue and nuclei: deep red.

1. Weigert’s Iron and Hematoxylin Stain

2. Taenzer-Unna Stain

3. Kraijan Stain

4. Silver impregnation Method (Gomori’s technique)

stains for connective tissue

Weigert’s Iron and Hematoxylin Stain

This is used for elastic fibers and consists of your basic fuchsin, resorcin and ferric chloride resulting in a dark blue coloration.

Taenzer-Unna Stain

Uses Orcein which selectively stains your elastic fibers: dark brow

Taenzer-Unna Stain

This method is particularly useful for studying your elastic tissue degradation in conditions such as your emphysema or aortic disease.

Kraijan Stain

Contains Congo red also targets elastic fibers, staining them red or bright red

Silver impregnation Method (Gomori’s technique)

Used to highlight reticular fibers which forms the supportive framework for your organs like your liver, spleen and lymph nodes

Silver impregnation Method (Gomori’s technique)

It uses ammoniacal silver, staining your reticular fibers: dark brown due to their silver oxide, since the reticulin fiber are argyrophilic they are not visible in your routine H&E staining, making this technique essential for diagnosing certain cancers and your fibrotic changes.

1. Toluidine blue stain

2. Methylene blue

3. Thionine

4. Bielschowsky stain

5. Cajal’s stain

stains for NERVOUS TISSUE

1. Toluidine blue stain

2. Methylene blue

3. Thionine

4. Bielschowsky stain

5. Cajal’s stain

Stains that target your Nissl bodies, your Nissl bodies composts of rough endoplasmic reticulum and your ribosomes are important markers for your neuronal health.

1. Toluidine blue stain

2. Methylene blue

3. Thionine

4. Bielschowsky stain

5. Cajal’s stain

ESSENTIAL FOR IDENTIFYING NEURONS, GLIAL CELLS AND THEIR STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS

Toluidine blue stain and Methylene blue

both stains your Nissl bodies: deep blue, thus are commonly used in neuronal injury assessment and brain tissue study.

Thionine

another Nissl stain but it gives a purple coloration, it helps distinguish neuronal cell bodies from BL cells

1. Bielschowsky stain

2. Cajal’s stain

SILVER STAINING FOR NEURONS AND AXONS:

Bielschowsky stain

uses 20% silver nitrate and ammoniacal silver to highlight your neurons, axons, dendrites and neurofibrils, as well as Plaque neurites and tangles which are hallmark features of your Alzheimer's disease.

Bielschowsky stain

It stains neurons: black with a yellow to brown background

Bielschowsky stain

This stain is widely used in neuropathology to assess your neurodegenerative conditions like Alzhiemer’s and Parkinson's disease.

Cajal’s stain

Composed of Gold sublimates

1. Weigert-Pal Stain

2. Osmium tetroxide Stain

3. Sudan black Stain

4. Picrocarmine

stains for nervous tissues

1. Weigert-Pal Stain

2. Osmium tetroxide Stain

3. Sudan black Stain

4. Picrocarmine

Used to stain Astrocytes; the supporting glial cells of your CNS, it results in black stained astrocytes with a brown background.

This stain is significant for studying gliosis, brian injuries, and astrocyte function in neurodegenerative diseases.

1. Weigert-Pal Stain

2. Osmium tetroxide Stain

3. Sudan black Stain

STAINS THAT TARGET YOUR MYELIN SHEATH

Weigert-Pal Stain

Composed of your Hematoxylin, Lithium carbonate, Potassium permanganate. Stains the myelin sheath dark blue or blue to black.

Weigert-Pal Stain

It is commonly used for assessing demyelination in neuropathology

Osmium tetroxide Stain

A lipid stain that reacts with your myelin turning it black

Sudan black Stain

Often used for frozen sections and lipid metabolism in your studies

Picrocarmine

STAINS USED FOR NEUROPATHOLOGICAL STUDIES

Picrocarmine

A combination of carmine and picric acid

Picrocarmine

This is used for general neuropathological studies and it stains nervous tissue black. Allowing visualization of brain structures and neurodegenerative changes.

1. Sudan black b (most sensitive lipid stain)

2. Scharlach R or Sudan IV (most common lipid stain)

3. Oil red O

4. Osmic acid

5. Lorraine-Smith

LIPID STAINS

Sudan black b (most sensitive lipid stain)

Mainly used to identify phospholipids

Sudan black b (most sensitive lipid stain)

Stains your lipid structures black and is widely used in bone marrow and blood smears for identifying immature white blood cells.

Scharlach R or Sudan IV (most common lipid stain)

Primarily targeting your triglycerides or your neutral lipids.

Scharlach R or Sudan IV (most common lipid stain)

It stains lipids red making it useful in fat metabolism and metabolic disorder studies.

Sudan black b

most sensitive lipid stain

Scharlach R or Sudan IV

most common lipid stain

Oil red O

Stains your myelin sheaths and lipid deposits a brilliant red.

Oil red O

This stain is commonly used for frozen sections and detecting fat in tissues especially in conditions like your atherosclerosis and fatty liver disease.

Osmic acid

used for neuropathological studies specifically binding to your unsaturated lipids

Osmic acid

It stains lipids black making it useful in electron microscopy

Lorraine-Smith

Contains Nile blue sulfate

Lorraine-Smith

The triglycerides will stay in pink and your cholesterol esters or free fatty acids will stain light red.

Lorraine-Smith

This stain is useful for fatty acid metabolism studies and diagnosing lipid storage disease

1. Perl’s prussian blue

2. Turnbull’s blue

3. Gmelin’s stain

STAINS FOR TISSUE PIGMENTS

Perl’s prussian blue

Composed of potassium ferrocyanide

Perl’s prussian blue

detects your ferric iron producing a deep blue precipitate; which is useful in diagnosing your hemochromatosis and hemosiderosis.

Turnbull’s blue

The potassium ferricyanide reacts with your ferrous iron also yielding a deep blue precipitate to indicate an iron deposition.

Gmelin’s stain

For bilirubin detection, containing your nitric acid, ferric salt, and iodine oxidizes your bilirubin resulting in a yellow to green color change aiding in the diagnosis of your jaundice and biliary obstruction.

Stein’s stain

Utilizes iodine, which detects your bile pigments producing a green coloration.

Stein’s stain

Useful in assessing your biliary obstruction, cholestasis, and liver dysfunction.

Masson Fontana Stain

Used to detect your melanin and your argentaffin cells producing a black coloration; making it evolvable in conditions involving your melanocytic tumors or your neuroendocrine cells

1. Von Kossa stain

2. Alizarin Red S Stain

For calcium deposits:

1. Masson Fontana Stain

2. Von Kossa stain

3. Alizarin Red S Stain

STAINS FOR TISSUE PIGMENTS

1. Fast green

2. Peracetic acid - Alcian blue stain

3. Sakaguchi

4. Feulgen’s Stain (most reliable)

STAINS FOR NUCLEIC ACIDS

Fast green

composed of your alkaline fast green

Fast green

It stains your protamines and histones turning nuclei green.

Peracetic acid - Alcian blue stain

Targets your Cysteine and Cystine, producing a blue-green coloration which is useful in detecting your sulfur-containing amino acids

Sakaguchi

consists of sodium hydroxide, sodium hypochlorite and pyridine chloroform specific for your arginine; yielding an orange to red color