Daily Stains Used in Histopathology

Staining is a major part of histopathology, as it's used for diagnosis of disease and for identifying different cells/cell types. The most used stains in the lab are H&E, AB/PAS and Papanicolaou. These stains are made of a series of some of the following stains!

Eosin - Stains proteins in the cytoplasm, collagen and muscle fibres. Shows the cytoplasm stained pink-orange and nuclei stained blue/purple. Eosin also stains red blood cells red

Haematoxylin - Stains cell nuclei blue

OG-6 - Stains the cytoplasm or keratin

Alcian Blue - Used to stain acidic polysaccharides such as glycosaminoglycans in cartilages and some types of mucopolysaccharides

EA-50 - Provides colour contrast in Pap staining for nucleoli, squamous cells, cilia, and erythrocytes

These are just the routine stains used in the lab, plenty more special stains are used for more complex applications! 👩‍🔬