A new technique for staining mast cells using ferroin

Abstract

We describe here a new method for specific staining of mast cells using ferroin. Different hamster tissues were fixed in 4% formalin and processed for paraffin embedding. Sections were stained with hematoxylin followed by ferroin acidified with 2.5 N sulfuric acid to pH 4.0. Mast cells stained an intense orange color that contrasted markedly with bluish violet nuclei. High contrast was also observed when ferroin colored sections were counterstained with light green instead of hematoxylin. To evaluate the specificity of the stain, hamster cheek pouch sections were stained with toluidine blue, alcian blue-safranin O, and ferroin. Quantitative evaluation of mast cells stained with the three techniques showed no statistical difference. The simplicity and selectivity of this method is sufficient for image analysis of mast cells.

Sympathetic denervation accelerates wound contraction but delays reepithelialization in rats

“…Toluidine blue is a reliable and largely used marker of mast cells 23,24 . The number of mast cells was evaluated in toluidine blue stained tissue sections.…”

“…Toluidine blue is a reliable and largely used marker of mast cells. 23,24 The number of mast cells was evaluated in toluidine blue stained tissue sections. Fifteen random fields (0.119 mm 2 ) were counted using the Â40 objective and the average cell count per field was calculated for each animal.…”

Systemic Mastocytosis and Mast Cell Tumors

“…Mature normal mast cells are easily identifiable in hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections, but the reliable detection of immature forms requires special staining techniques, such as Wright-Giemsa stain, toluidine blue stain, alcian blue/safranin stains, Unna's method (polychrome methylene blue with differentiation in glycerol ether), and other stains (Graham et al 1994;Tomasi et al 2003). It has also been emphasized that mast cells form a heterogeneous group of cells in regard to their formalin sensitivity (Marshall et al 1987).…”