Special stains

Periodic Acid Shiff/PAS with disease

Periodic Acid Shiff/PAS with disease

A stain used to detect glycogen in tissues.

Best Carmine

Stain used for Glycogen, Mast Cell Granules, fibrin, mucin

Langhan’s Iodine Method (Carleton’s Method)

Oldest stain, considered obsolete. A rapid stain but not a permanent stain as it fades after a few months

May also stain for Amyloid but not specific for glycogen.

• Fresh Frozen Azure - metachromatic stain

• Metachromatic Toluidine Blue staining

Stain used for glycosaminoglycans

Alcian Blue Technique

A method commonly used to demonstrate acid mucins in tissues.

Combined Alcian Blue - PAS Technique

Stain used for demonstration of mucins and separation of acid to neutral mucins.

Mucicarmine Staining

Stain used for Mucins.

Fluorescent Acridine Orange Technique

A Fluorescent stain and the disadvantage is that it is temporary and will only last for about 2 hours once thesection is mounted.

For Acid Mucopolysaccharide.

Alkaline Fast green method

For basic proteins especially protamines and histones.

Peracetic Acid- Alcian Blue

Cysteine and cystine

Sakaguchi’s test

for Arginine

Southgate’s Mucicarmine Technique

Stain used for encapsulated fungi like Cryptococcus neoformans

Hale’s Dialyzed (colloidal) Iron technique

stain of acid Mucins.

Sudan IV (Scharlach R)

A stain used for detecting lipids, especially triglycerides.

Oil red O method dextrin

for Fats

Osmic Acid stain

Not a dye but unstable oxide used as a fixative for electron microscopy and in histochemistry.

Demonstrate unsaturated fats

Nile Blue sulfate

• For neutral fats

• Cholesterin esters and Cholesterin fatty acids

• Cerebrosides

• Fatty acids and soap

Toluidine Blue Acetone Method

For sulfate deposits

Borohydride periodic shiff (BHPS)

For Gangliosides

Gomori Calcium Method

A staining technique for detecting alkaline phosphatase in tissues.

Gomori Lead Method

For Acid phosphatase

Lead Method for 5-nucleotidase (Wachstein & Meisel)

For 5 nucleotidase

Alpha naphthyl acetate Method

For non-specific esterases

Indoxyl acetate Method - for non-specific esterase (Holt & Withers)

For Esterase activity

Tetrazolium method

For monoamine oxidase activity

Rapid Toluidine- Eosin Stain

For Glycol methacrylate section

Peroxidase Reaction for Myeloid cells

for myeloid cells except basophils

Gomori Silver Impregnation

for reticulin Fibers

Van gieson

For Collagen

Masson’s Trichrome Stain

A stain used to highlight collagen fibers in tissues.

Weigert’s Elastic Tissue Stain

Orcein (Taenzer-Unna-Orcein Method)

For elastic fibers

Kraijan’s Technique (employing Congo Red)

Rapid method of staining:

• elastic fibers

• fibrin

• amyloid

• Mallory’s Phosphotungstic Acid Haematoxylin (PTAH)

• Highman’s Congo Red

• Alkaline Congo Red Technique

• Kraijan’s Amyloid Stain (Modified Bennhold Method)

• Methyl Violet - Crystal Violet Method

• Induced Fluorescent Staining with Thioflavine T

For amyloid staining

Alkaline Congo Red Technique

Method of choice in many laboratories in demonstrating amyloid.

Induced Fluorescent Staining with Thioflavine T

Fluorescence may be imparted to amyloid by stainingwith thioflavine T and exposing tissue to ultraviolet or Quartz iodine lamps

Feulgen’s technique for Nuclear DNA

A specific staining technique for DNA, particularly chromatin and nucleoproteins.

Most reliable and specific histochemical staining technique for DNA.

• Methyl green-pyronin method

• Acridine Orange Fluorescent staining

For DNA and RNA demonstration

Acridine Orange Fluorescent Staining

Most commonly used fluorochrome to demonstrate DNA and RNA

Modified Gomori’s Technique

A staining method for muscle fibers and collagen in tissues.

Mallory’s Phosphotungstic Acid HEmatoxylin (PTAH)

For muscle, neuroglia, myelin, and collagen

Heidenhain’s Iron Hematoxylin

For Muscle striations, mitochondria, myelin, and chromatin

Lissamine Fast Red - Tartrazine Method

For muscles and bones

Schnorl’s Picro Thionin Method

For bones (lacunae), canaliculi, and bone matrix

Bielschowsky Technique

A staining method for neurons, axons, and neurofibrils in the central nervous system.

Bodian’s Stain

• For nerve fibers and nerve endings

• For demonstrating neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease

Sevier Munger Technique

• For neural tissues

• Commonly used for demonstrating neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease

Cresyl Fast Violet (Nissl)

• Stain for paraffin sections

• for Missle substances, neurons

• Weigert Pal Technique of Staining Normal Myelin Sheath

• Weil’s Method

For myelin sheath

• Kluver & Barrera Luxol Fast Blue stain for myelin with Nissl Counterstain

• Luxol Fast Blue - H&E Stain and PAS Hematoxylin Stain

Cajal’s Gold Sublimate

For astrocytes, nerve cells, and nerve fibers

Lipofuscin

Yellow-brown to reddish brown pigment resulting from slow oxidation of lipids and lipoproteins, commonly found in hepatocytes, cardiac muscle cells, adrenal cortex, and other organs.

Melanin

Autogenous pigment in brown or black color naturally present in the skin and eyes, with pathological accumulation in conditions like nevi, moles, or melanoma.

• Perl’s Prussian Blue

• Tumbull’s Blue Reaction for ferrous iron

For Hemosiderin

Gomori’s Prussian Blue

For Iron pigments

Benzidine Nitroprusside Stain

For hemoglobin and oxidase Granules

Modified Fouchet’s technique

For liver bile pigments

Schmort’s Ferric Ferricyanide Method for reducing substances

• For bile, lipofuscin, melanin

• For argentaffin cells, chromaffin

• For thyroid colloid

Gomori’s ALdehyde Fuchsin

For lipofuscin

Mallory’s Fuchsin Stain

For Hemofuscin pigment

Masson Fontana Technique

Widely used for melanin demonstration

For melanin and argentaffin granules

Calcium Dye Lake Reaction

Technique used for staining the skeletal system in embryos and fetuses.

Von Kossa’s Silver Nitrate Method

Method for demonstrating calcium.

Lindquist’s Modified Rhodamine Technique

Staining technique for copper.

Grain Twort Stain

Staining method for bacteria.

Brown and Brenn

Staining technique for bacteria, nocardia, and actinomyces.

Ziehl Neelsen Method

Method for Acid-Fast Bacilli staining.

Wade Fire Technique

Technique for staining leprosy bacilli (M. Leprae) and nocardia.

Auramine - Rhodamine Fluorescent Method

Method for mycobacteria staining.

• Toluidine Blue Stain

• Cresyl Violet acetate method

Staining technique for helicobacter.

Dieterle Method

Technique for legionella pneumophila staining.

• Levaditi’s

• Warthin - Starry Method

Staining method for spirochetes.

Modified Steiner and Steiner technique for Spirochetes

• For spirochetes

• Donovan Bodies

• Fungi and Bacteria

Grocott Methamine Silver (GMS)

Method for staining fungi.

Lendrum’s Phloxine - Tartrazine Method

Staining technique for viral inclusions.

• Orcein Method

• Shikata’s Orcein method

Staining method for hepatitis B surface antigen.

Rapid Giemsa

Staining technique for blood and bone marrow parasites like Leishmania, Malaria, and Trypanosomes.

Alizarin Red S

Staining method for calcium.

• Rubeanic acid

• Modified Rhodamine

Staining method for Copper

Rhodizonate method

Technique for lead salts staining.

Sirius Red

Staining method for amyloid.

• Gimenez method

• Toluidine blue in Sorenson’s buffer

For helicobacter pylori

Modified steiner

For filamentous and non filamentous bacteria

Macchiavello’s stain

Staining technique for Rickettsiae and viral infections.

Modified Palmgren’s

For Nerve fibers in paraffin embedded material

Page’s Solochrome Cyanine technique

Myelin in paraffin sections

Perchloric acid - naphthoquinone

For Cholesterol

Sodium hydroxide-ferric hematoxylin

For Sphingoimyelin

Toluidine blue-acetone

For Sulfatides

Weigert’s resorcin-fuchsin

For Elastic fibers

Gordon’s and Sweet’s

For Reticular fibers