TABLE 17-5.
Special Histochemical Stains for Intracellular and Extracellular Substances
| Stain | Substance or Structure | Color |
|---|---|---|
| Acid phosphatase | Prostate | Black |
| Alcian Blue | Sialomucins, hyaluronic acid, sulfated mucosubstances | Blue |
| Alizarin red S | Calcium | Orange-red |
| Best's Carmine | Glycogen | Deep red |
| Bielschowsky's silver stain | Axons | Black |
| Congo red | Amyloid | Orange-red* |
| Cresyl Violet | Nissl substance | Violet |
| Dunn-Thompson | Hemoglobin | Emerald green |
| Feulgen | DNA | Red-purple |
| Fontana-Masson | Melanin | Black |
| Gordon and Sweets Reticulin Fiber | Reticulin fibers | Black |
| Grimelius | Argyrophilic granules | Black |
| Hall's | Bile/biliverdin | Green |
| Jone's Methenamine | Basement membranes | Black |
| Kinyoun's (modified Ziehl-Neelsen) | Lipofuscin | Red |
| Luxol Fast Blue | Myelin | Blue |
| Mallory's PTAH | Muscle, fibrin, glial processes | Dark blue |
| Masson's Trichrome | Muscle, collagen |
|
| Mayer's Mucicarmine | Mucin, hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate | Rose to red |
| Methyl Green Pyronin | Nucleic acids |
|
| Oil Red O | Fat | Orange–bright red |
| Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) | Glycogen, mucin | Red |
| Prussian Blue | Iron | Blue |
| Rubeanic Acid | Copper | Green |
| Schmorl's Reaction | Melanin, lipofuscin | Dark blue |
| Sudan Black B | Fat | Black |
| Tolouidine Blue | Mast cells | Purple |
| Verhoeff | Elastic fibers | Black |
| Von Kossa | Calcium | Black |
*
Apple green birefringency with polarized light