Carbohydrate and Amyloid Stains Flashcards
What tissue element does Colloidal Iron, Alcian Blue, and Mucicarmine all demonstrate.
Mucin
What one tissue type can be used as a control can for Colloidal Iron, Alcian Blue, and Mucicarmine.
Small bowel.
Name 2 things that can be demonstrated with the Colloidal Iron Stain.
Mucin, mast cells, calcium salts, hyaluronic acid, and some fungi and forms of RCC.
Why would a pathologist care about mucin production?
Enzyme deficiency diseases and many tumors produce mucin.
True or False: The 2 main types of mucin are acid and neutral.
True
Name a good counterstain for Colloidal Iron.
Neutral Red, Nuclear Fast Red, or Van Gieson because they contrast with Prussian Blue.
Why do we use solutions of differing pH in the Alcian Blue stain?
Alcian Blue 1.0 and 2.5 stain different subgroups of acid mucins.
True or False: The light blue color of the Alcian Blue stain comes from iron.
False. It comes from copper.
What other carbohydrate stain is often paired with the Alcian Blue?
Periodic Acid Schiff. The AB-PAS will demonstrate both acid and neutral mucin.
How does the colloidal iron stain work?
Ferric ions in a colloidal solution bind with acidic mucins. This forms blue deposits and is called the Prussian Blue reaction.
Why doesn’t the mucin in Brunner’s glands of the duodenum stain with colloidal iron?
Brunner’s glands have NEUTRAL mucins. Colloidal iron stains ACID mucins. Brunner’s glands will stain with PAS.
What stains neutral mucins?
Periodic-Acid Schiff.
What color does the mucin in goblet cells stain with an ABPAS?
Purple. Also, magenta and blue separately. Goblet cells can contain both acid and neutral mucins, so the magenta of the PAS reaction and the blue of the alcian blue stain are both present, making some of the cells appear purple.
How thick should you cut amyloid controls?
8-10 microns.
Both patient and control tissue for the Congo Red stain should be cut at 8-10 microns. Why?
To be able to see the birefringence with a polarizing microscope.
What color is amyloid with the Congo Red stain?
Pink-orange with a light microscope, apple-green with a polarizing microscope, and bright orange with a fluorescent microscope.
Name an amyloid stain other than the Congo Red.
Crystal Violet and Thioflavin T, which is a fluorescent dye.
