Weigert iron-hematoxylin stain
Structures | Colour |
Nuclei | black to blue-black |
Cytoplasm | - |
Connective-tissue fibres - Collagen - Reticular - Elastic |
- - black to blue-black |
Myocytes | black to blue-black |
Erythrocytes | black to blue-black |
Iron-hematoxylin: | is a hematoxylin and stains far more intensively than hemalaun. To be able to stain myelin sheaths with Weigert dye, the lipids in the myelin must be preserved while preparing the specimen. The myelin sheaths turn black to blue-black. |
Luxol fast blue: | Only the neurokeratin remains in normal paraffin fixation of myelin sheaths. Luxol fast blue has a specific affinity to this lipoprotein and stains the myelin sheaths bright blue. |
Osmium tetroxide | The specimens must be prepared as frozen sections. Osmium tetroxide is deposited on the double bonds of unsaturated fatty acids and produces reaction products which make even the thinnest myelin sheaths visible through black stain. |