Blood Smears and Staining

What is the Glass Slide Method?

dropping blood on slide and smearing it with another slide at an angle

(draw sample backwards first and then forward across slide)

What is the Cover Glass Method?

dropping blood on a cover glass and covering it with another cover glass, quickly pulling them apart

put both cover glasses on different slides

What is a Wright stain?

common for staining blood smears

combination stain (both acidic and basic)

What two stains are in the Wright Stain?

Eosin (acid) and Methylene Blue (basic)

What does Eosin stain?

acid stain (pink, red, etc.)

(-) charged

amino acids (common), proteins

(cells like erythrocytes pick up eosin (sack of proteins))

What does Methylene Blue stain?

basic stain (blue, purple, etc.)

(+) charged

nucleic acids (DNA, nucleus)

How many drops of Wright Stain is needed for first stain?

9 drops

How long to let slide undisturbed after dropping Wright stain drops?

3 minutes

What is added after 3 minute wait time?

buffer

How many drops of buffer is added?

9

How long to let slide sit after adding buffer?

90 seconds

What do you do after waiting for buffer?

Tilt slide to let buffer off slide

Wait 8 minutes

What do you do after getting rid of buffer and waiting?

Flush slide with distilled water carefully

What do you do after flushing with distilled water?

Dry slide completely with bibulous paper