[Histonet] Sanderson's rapid bone stain + Acid fuchsin

[Jack Ratliff]

Regarding the counterstain for use with Sanderson's Rapid Bone Stain,  
I use the Van Gieson picrofuchsin in that it will stain older, mature,  
mineralized bone red. As an additional consequence of the VG  
counterstain, the originally blue stained dense collagen (new bone/ 
osteoid) from the SRBS will change to a greenish color from the  
reaction of the yellow picric acid (present in the counterstain). If  
you think about it, it makes perfect sense due to the basic reaction  
of combining blue and yellow to yield green. Additionally, the  
intensity of the red from the acid fuchsin content of the counterstain  
is directly proportional to the mineral density of the bone due to the  
acid in the solution acting to lightly etch the mineralized bone.  
Also, think of the specimen in 3D, you could expect shades of red  
depending on the plane of sectioning within the specimen and depending  
upon mineral deposition at the surface of trabeculae. Therefore, I  
believe that the dye-tissue interaction you are inquiring about is  
associated to mineralization or calcium concentration.

Hope this helps to answer your question.

Jack


On Dec 21, 2009, at 1:25 PM, <sklan <@t> illinois.edu> wrote:

> Hi All -
>
> I am trying to figure out if the combination of Sanderson's rapid  
> bone stain and acid fuchsin as the counterstain (or methylene blue +  
> basic fuchsin) results in pink/red staining of biologically formed  
> apatite (apatite not associated with collagen produced by  
> osteoblasts)?  An associated question is if the dye-tissue  
> interaction between acid or basic fuchsin and mineralized bone is  
> due to dye-collagen interactions?
>
> If anyone has any experiences or references that may help, please  
> let me know.
>
> Thank you for your help,
>
> Sheeny
>
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