STAINING

CENTRAL NERVOUS TISSUE

• CNS
• PNS
• GLIAL CELLS
• MICROGLIA
• NEUROPIL
• NEURONS
• NISSL GRANULES
• NEUROFIBRIL
• Fix in formol saline
• Routine : H&E
• PAS and silver impregnation
• Brain capillaries and neuritic plaques
• For neurons, axons and neurofibrils
• Uses a primary “sensitizing” solution + ammoniacal silver solution
impregnation + formalin
• RESULT
• Neurofibril, axons, dendrites black on a grayish background
* neuroglia and collagen may be lightly stained.
• For nerve fibers and nerve endings
• For demo of neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles
• For diagnosis of Alzheimer’s diseases
• For demo of neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in brain of
patient’s with Alzheimer’s diseases
• RESULT
• Large and small peripheral neuritis black
• Axons light brown
• Myelin sheath black
• neuritic plaques and tangles black
• Argentaffin granules black
• For Nissl bodies
• FIXATIVE : alcohol, carnoy’s, formol saline
• RESULT
• Nissl substance purple dark blue
• Neurons pale purple blue
• Cell nuclei purple blue
• For myelin sheaths
• FIXATIVE : Orth’s fluid (48 hrs) then to 2.5% potassium
dichromate (2-6 days )
• RESULT
• Myelin sheath blue black
• Cells brown
• For myelin sheaths
• Uses Luxol fast blue and can be combined with either
Nissl staining, with PAS or with hematoxylin
• RESULT
• Myelin sheath blue / green
• Cells violet / pink
• For myelin sheaths
• RESULT
• Myelin sheath blue-green
• Nuclei dark blue
• Fungi and PAS + elements rose to red
• Cytoplasmic nucleoproteins bluish purple
• Capillaries red
• For myelin sheaths
• Mordant and dye are mixed.
• For frozen sections.
• Differentiator : acid alcohol
• RESULT
• Myelin sheath black
• Background yellow
• For astrocytes
• Produce delicate staining of the cytoplasmic processes of normal
and reactive astrocytes
• FROZEN SECTIONS
• RESULT
• Astrocytes black on a light brownish background
• Nerve cells red
• Nerve fibers unstained
PTAH
• For reactive astrocytes
• Use to stain astrocytes in the gray matter or to astrocytes in area
of myelin loss.
• If mature glial fibers are to be emphasized for photographic
purposes and loss of collagen is not critical :
• Rinse in distilled water then treat with 30% ferric chloride in
absolute alcohol for 15 minutes
• For demonstration of gliosis
• RESULT
• Glial fibrils
blue
• Nuclei pale blue
• Background colorless
• OLIGODENDROCYTES – using Ab to
galactocerebroside , MBP, carbonic anhydrase C
• Tumors do not react with the Ab
• MICROGLIAL CELLS - rod shaped nuclei in H&E.
expresesses CD68 Ag and leukocyte common antigen
(CD 45)