Romanowsky stain
Romanowsky staining is a prototypical
The staining technique is named after the Russian physician Dmitri Leonidovich Romanowsky (1861–1921), who was one of the first to recognize its potential for use as a blood stain.[6]
Stains that are related to or derived from the Romanowsky-type stains include Giemsa, Jenner, Wright, Field, May–Grünwald, Pappenheim and Leishman stains. They differ in protocols and additives and their names are often confused with one another in practice.
Mechanism
The value of Romanowsky staining lies in its ability to produce a wide range of hues, allowing cellular components to be easily differentiated. This phenomenon is referred to as the Romanowsky effect, or more generally as metachromasia.[7]
Eosin part of the stain is responsible for pink-orange hue of
Romanowsky effect
In 1891 Romanowsky
Polychromed methylene blue
Romanowsky-type stains can be made from either a combination of pure dyes, or from methylene blue that has been subject to
Common method of rapid oxidation uses increasing pH of the solution with
Although azure B and eosin have been shown to be the required components to produce the Romanowsky effect,[14][3][13] these stains in their pure forms have not always been used in the formulation of the staining solutions.[4] The original sources of azure B (one of the oxidation products of methylene blue) were from polychromed methylene blue solutions, which were treated with oxidizing agents or allowed to naturally age in the case of Romanowsky.[3][13] Ernst Malachowsky in 1891 was the first to purposely polychrome methylene blue for use in a Romanowsky-type stain.[15][17]
Types
Wright stain
Wright's stain can be used alone or in combination with the Giemsa stain, which is known as the Wright-Giemsa stain.[1] Wright's stain is named after James Homer Wright who in 1902[18] published a method using heat to produce polychromed methylene blue, which is combined with eosin Y.[19][20][21][1] The polychromed methylene blue is combined with eosin and allowed to precipitate, forming an eosinate which is redissolved in methanol.[4] The addition of Giemsa to Wright's stain increases the brightness of the "reddish-purple" color of the cytoplasmic granules.[1][21] The Wright's and Wright-Giemsa stains are two of the Romanowsky-type stains in common use in the United States and are mainly used for the staining of blood and bone marrow films.[21][1]Jenner's stain
It is used in microscopy for staining blood smears. The stain is dark blue and results in very observable clearly stained nucleus.
Giemsa stain
Giemsa stain is composed of "Azure II" and eosin Y with methanol and glycerol as the solvent.[15] "Azure II" is thought to be a mixture of azure B (which Giemsa called "azure I") and methylene blue, although the exact composition of "azure I" is considered a trade secret.[4][15] Comparable formulations using known dyes have been published and are commercially available. Giemsa stain is considered to be the standard stain for detection and identification of the malaria parasite.[5]
May-Grünwald stain
The May-Grünwald-Giemsa is used for the staining of slides obtained by fine-needle aspiration in a histopathology lab for the diagnosis of tumorous cells.
Pappenheim stain
This method is a combination of May-Grünwald and Giemsa staining.
Leishman stain
In 1901
Field's stain
Field stain is used for staining thick blood films in order to discover malarial parasites.
Clinical importances
Blood and bone marrow pathology
Romanowsky-type stains are widely used in the examination of blood, in the form of
Detection of malaria and other parasites
Of the Romanowsky-type stains, the Giemsa stain is especially important in the detection and identification of malaria parasites in blood samples.[5][15] Malaria antigen detection tests are an alternative to the staining and microscopic examination of blood films for the detection of malaria.[5]
Use in cytopathology
Romanowsky-type stains are also used for the staining of cytopathologic specimens such as those produced from fine-needle aspirates and cerebrospinal fluid from lumbar punctures.[24]
History
Although debate exists as to who deserves credit for this general staining method, popular usage has attributed it to Dmitri Leonidovich Romanowsky.[14][17][19]
In the 1870s Paul Ehrlich used a mixture of acidic and basic dyes including acid fuchsin (acid dye) and methylene blue (basic dye) to examine blood films.[25][26][27][28][17] In 1888 Cheslav Ivanovich Chenzinsky used methylene blue, but substituted the acid fuchsin used by Ehrlich with eosin.[14][27][28] Chenzinsky's stain combination was able to stain the malaria parasite (a member of the genus Plasmodium).[28][19] Neither Ehrlich's or Chenzinsky's stains produced the Romanowsky effect as the methylene blue they used was not polychromed.[17]
Dmitri Romanowsky in 1890 published preliminary findings of his blood stain (a combination of aged methylene blue and eosin), including the results when applied to malaria infected blood.[6] This use of polychromed methylene blue differentiated Romanowsky's stain (and the subsequent formulations) from those of Ehrlich and Chenzinsky, which lacked the purple hue associated with the Romanowsky effect.[17] Romanowsky's 1890 publication did not include a description of how he modified his methylene blue solution,[6][17] but in his 1891 doctoral thesis he described methylene blue best as used after mold began forming on the surface.[6][17] Other than the use of an aged methylene blue solution, Romanowsky's stain was based on Chenzinsky's stain technique.[17] Romanowsky's use of his method to study the malaria parasite has been attributed to the continued interest in his staining method.[26]
In 1899,
Richard May and Ludwig Grünwald in 1892 published a version of the stain (now known as the May–Grünwald stain) which is similar to the version proposed by Jenner in 1899, and likewise does not produce the Romanowsky effect.[28][19][15]
In 1901, both
James Homer Wright in 1902 published[18] a method using heat to polychrome the methylene blue, which he combined with eosin Y. This technique is known as Wright's stain.[19][20]
Gustav Giemsa's name has also become associated with the stain as he is credited with publishing a useful formulation and protocol in 1902.[13][6][26] Giemsa attempted to use combinations of pure dyes rather than polychromed methylene blue solutions which are highly variable in composition.[20][19][15] Giemsa sold the rights to produce his stain, but never fully published details on how he produced it,[19] although it is thought that he used a combination of azure B and methylene blue.[15] Giemsa published a number of modifications of his stains between 1902 and 1934. In 1904[29] he suggested adding glycerin to his stain, along with the methanol, to increase its stability.[23][19]
Giemsa stain powders produced in Germany were widely used in the United States until the interruption of the supply during World War I, which caused increased utilization of James Homer Wright's method for polychroming methylene blue.[19][1]
See also
- Liu's stain
- Malaria antigen detection tests
- Papanicolaou stain
- Staining (biology)
References
- ^ ISBN 9781444398595.
- ISBN 978-0-7020-6925-3.
- ^ S2CID 207513741.
- ^ S2CID 37939306.
- ^ ISBN 9781444398595.
- ^ S2CID 37401579.
- PMID 29597213.
- ^ Романовскiй Д.Л. (1890). "Къ вопросу о строенiи чужеядныхъ малярiи". Врачъ. 52: 1171–1173.
- ^ Романовскiй Д.Л. Къ вопросу о паразитологіи и терапiи болотной лихорадки. Диссертацiя на степень доктора медицины. Спб. 1891 г., 118 с.
- ^ Romanowsky D (1891). "Zur Frage der Parasitologie und Therapie der Malaria". St Petersburg Med Wochenschr. 16: 297–302, 307–315.
- S2CID 25723230.
- PMID 11933573.
- ^ S2CID 23896062.
- ^ S2CID 46746062.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Lillie, Ralph Dougall (1977). H. J. Conn's Biological stains (9th ed.). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins. pp. 692p.
- . Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ PMID 78544.
- ^ PMID 19971449.
- ^ S2CID 19829220.
- ^ a b c Gatenby, J. B.; Beams, H. W. (1950). The Microtomist's Vade-Mecum (11th ed.). Philadelphia: The Blackstone Company.
- ^ PMID 11933573.
- ^ PMID 20759810.
- ^ ISBN 9781444398595.
- S2CID 5168332.
- ^ Ehrlich P (1880). "Methodologische Beiträge zur Physiologie und Pathologie der verschiedenen Formen der Leukocyten" (PDF). Z Klin Med. 1: 553–560. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-19.
- ^ ISBN 978-0940095007.
- ^ S2CID 1823696.
- ^ PMID 7508837.
- ^ Giemsa G (1904). "Eine Vereinfachung und Vervollkommnung meiner Methylenazur-Methylenblau-Eosin-Färbemethode zur Erzielung der Romanowsky-Nochtschen Chromatinfärbung". Centralbl F Bakt Etc. 37: 308–311.