[Histonet] Alcian Blue

[Lee & Peggy Wenk]

I think the key phrase was that the pathologists expected a "small amount of 
cells to stain" in the esophagus biopsy.

If your control has a lot of acid mucopolysaccharides (AMP) in it (such as 
using a normal intestine, or lung with bronchus), then 10 minutes in Alcian 
blue would definitely show positivity in the goblet cells or mucin cells, of 
which there are a lot of goblet cells in the intestine and mucin cells in 
the bronchus, and each goblet/mucin cell has a lot of AMP.

If on the other hand, there are only a few cells, and particularly if each 
of the cells has a minimum amount of AMP (common in dysplastic or cancerous 
conditions), then 30 minutes in Alcian Blue would be better to demonstrate 
minimal number of cells or minimal amounts of AMP.

Use 30 minutes staining time for Alcian blue all the time, to help find the 
minimal number of cells and/or minimal amounts of AMP.

Peggy A. Wenk, HTL(ASCP)
Beaumont Hospital
Royal Oak, MI 48073

Opinions expressed do not reflect upon Beaumont Hospital.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Sheila Adey
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2012 8:58 PM
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: [Histonet] Alcian Blue


Hi Everyone:
Can anyone tell me why some Alcian blue procedures say 30 min in Alcian Blue 
and some say 10 min?Our control works well at 10 minutes but today I had a 
Dr. say that he expected a small amount of cells to stain and they didn't in 
an esophagus bx.So, now I'm wondering if b/c most of the procedures that 
I've read say 30 min, that's what would be best?
Thanks
Sheila      _______________________________________________
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