OTHER STAINS

(Gregorios)

1. Van Gieson stain (Acid Fuchsin-Picric Acid)

 for demonstration of connective tissues.
 Weakens after long standing (Remedy: add few drops of fresh acid fuchsin)
2. Acridine Orange
 Basic acridine fluorochrome
 Permits discrimination between dead and living cells.
 Gives green fluorescence for DNA, red fluorescence for RNA.
3. Acridine Red 3B
 Demonstrates deposits of calcium salts and possible sites of phosphate activities.
4. Congo Red
 Indicatorl stain for axis cylinders in embryos
 Used as 4% aqueous solution in Kraijan’s method of staining elastic tissues, amyloid, and myeloid.
5. Neutral Red
 Basic dye; for observing cell granules and vacuoles of phagocytic cell.
6. Alcian Blue
 Water-soluble, pthalocyanin dye, similar to chlorophyll.
 Stains acid mucopolysaccharides by forming salt linkages.
 Produces STRIKING BLUE COLOR
 Resistant to various counterstaining procedure
 More specific for CT and epithelial mucin.
7. Aniline Blue
 Cytoplasmic stain used for counterstaining epithelial mucins.
8. Celestine Blue
 Resistant to strong acid dyes
 For routing staining of fixed sections, giving a good nuclear definition when used in conjunction with
alum hematoxylin.
9. Methylene Blue
 Basic nuclear stain employed with eosin.
 Polychroming – oxidation of methylene blue; resulting mixture of methylene blue, azure, thazoles is
Polychrome Methylene Blue.
 Nuclei Blue – cartilage, matrix, mucin, mast cell granules; Reddish-Violet – connective tissues
 Valuable stain for plasma cells; also for cytological exam of fresh sputum for malignant cells.
 Bacterial stain for bacterial organisms; for diagnosis of diptheria; vital stain of nervous tissue.
10. Night Blue
 Substiture for carbol fuchsin in acid fast staining.
11. Prussian Blue
 Manufacture of paints; may be used for microanatomical contrast of specimen.
 Demonstration of circulatory system by injection.

12. Toluidine Blue

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  Nuclear stain for fixed tissues
 Used as substiture for thionine in fresh frozen tissue sections
 For staining Nissl granules or chromophilic bodies
13. Victoria Blue
 Neuroglia in frozen sections
14. Basic Fuchsin
 Deep staining for acid fast organisms
 For mitochondria, differentiation of smooth muscles with the use of picric acid.
 Main constituent of Feulgen’s and Schiff’s reagent.
 For the detection of aldehydes of Van Gieson’s solution for connective tissues, mucin, elastic
tissue.
ex: Carbol Fuchsin, Coleman’s Feulgen’s reagent, Schiffs rgt, Mallory’s Fuchsin stain, Aldehyde
Fuchsin (Gomori’s stain)
15. Benzidine
 Staining hemoglobin
16. Bismarck Brown
 Contrast stain for gram’s technique in acid fast and papanicolau method
 For staining diphtheria organisms
17. Carmine
 Chromatin stain for fresh materials in smear preparation.
 Usually combined with aluminum chloride to stain glycogen (Best Carmine Stain)
18. Mayer’s Carmalum Solution
 Mordanted dye acting as a basic dye and staining acidic substances.
19. Crystal Violet
 Nuclear or chromatin stain used for amyloid in frozen sections and platelets in blood.
 Gentian Violet – mixture of crystal violet, methyl violet, dextrin.
20. Methylene Violet
 Metachromatic dye for coloring nuclei of leukocytes reddish-purple in presence of methylene blue.
21. Giemsa Stain
 Staining blood to different leukocytes
22. Gold Sublimate
 Used for metallic impregnation, made up of gold chloride and mercuric chloride
23. Iodine
 Oldest of all stains; for starch granules
 Stains amyloid, cellulose, starch, carotene, glycogen
 For removal of mercuric fixative artefact pigments.
24. Janus Green B
 Mitochondria during intravital staining
25. Malachite Green
 Contrast stain for ascaris eggs and erythrocytes
 Bacterial spore stain; used as a decolorizer and counterstain
26. Methyl Green
 Stains chromatin green; false positive reaction with mucin.

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27. Orcein
 For elastic fibers
 For dermatological studies due to its ability to demonstrate the most delicate fibers in skin.
28. Osmium tetroxide
 Fixative; used to stain fat
 Prevents specific staining of lipids
 Fat – reduces it to osmium dioxide; stained BLACK
29. Picric acid
 Contrast stain to acid fuchsin, for demonstration of connective tissue (Van Gieson stain)
 Cytoplasmic stain in contrast to basic dyes
 Counterstain to crystal violet; fixative and decalcifying agent
30. Rhodamine B
 Used with osmic acid to fix and stain blood and glandular tissues.
31. Silver Nitrate
 Used as 10% aqueous solution to prepare various dilutions to be used in identification of
spirochetes, reticulum and other fiber stains.