Special Stains
Special stains are usually performed after H&E staining. It refers to a wide variety of alternate staining techniques and procedures used to provide more in-depth information on specific structure(s) in a sample. Rather than specific antibody binding, special staining techniques are based on simple chemical reactions such as acid-base chemistry and oxidation-reduction reactions.
The Histology Core Facility routinely offers the following Special Stains:
If you would like to have a stain that is not listed, please email pathlab@uottawa.ca to enquire.
Carbohydrates
- Periodic Acid-Schiff (PAS)
- Periodic Acid-Schiff (PAS) diastase (Glycogen)
- Alcian Blue (pH 0.4, 1.0, 2.5)
Connective Tissue
- Masson’s Trichrome (collagen, fibrotic tissue, cartilage)
- Movat’s Pentachrome (collagen, elastic fibers, mucins, muscle, cartilage)
- Verhoeff-Van Gieson (Elastic)
- Picrosirius Red (Collagen)
- Safranin O (Cartilage)
- Toluidine Blue (Cartilage, Mast cells)
- HPS (Hematoxylin Phloxine Stain: Muscle, Collagen)
Lipids
- Oil Red O – Frozen tissue only
Microorganisms
- Gram stain, Brown and Brent
- Modified GMS Silver Stain (Fungi)
- Giemsa Jenner (Parasites)
Hematology
- Wright Giemsa (Blood Smear)
Minerals and Pigments
- Perl’s Prussian Blue (Iron )
- Von Kossa (Calcium)
- Alizarin Red (Calcium)
- Congo Red (Amyloid)
Nervous System
- Cresyl Violet (Neurons)
- Luxol Fast Blue (LFB), LFB –PAS (White and Grey matter)
Other Stains (contact the Core if you require other stains)
- Churukian Silver Stain (Alpha cells in pancreas, neuroendocrine cells)
- Gomori’s Aldeyhyde Fuchsin (Beta cells in pancreas)
- Jones Methenamine Silver ( glomerular capsule)
