Table 4.

Histochemical mucin stains and detection purpose

Stains	Purpose/specific cell-type	References
Alcian blue (AB)	Identification of acid and neutral mucin; goblet cells	[39, 47–49, 51, 52, 55–57]
Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) with or without diastase	Identification of acid and neutral mucin	[39, 47, 48, 50, 51, 56]
High iron diamine (HID) with AB	Differentiating sulphomucin from sialomucin	[51, 56]
Galactose oxidase-Schiff (GOS)	Identification of terminal β-galactose and β-N-acetylgalactosamine; gastric surface mucous cells	[56, 58]
Periodic acid-sodium borohydride-potassium hydroxide (PA-SB-PH)	Identification of sialic acid O-acylated side chain; goblet cells in large intestine	[56]
Mucicarmine	Acid mucin; goblet cells	[47, 48]
Paradoxical Concanavlin A stain (PCS)	Detection of stable class III mucin; cardiac glands, mucous neck cells, pyloric glands, and Brunner’s glands	[56, 58]
LNAase	Marker enzyme for small intestine and intestinal metaplasia	[55]