Van Gieson's stain is a mixture of picric acid and acid fuchsin. It is the simplest method of differential staining of collagen and other connective tissue. It was introduced to histology by American neuropsychiatrist and pathologist Ira Van Gieson. [1]
HvG stain generally refers to the combination of hematoxylin and Van Gieson's stain, [2] but can possibly refer to a combination of hibiscus extract-iron solution and Van Gieson's stain. [3]
Other dyes used in connection with Van Gieson staining include:
Collagen is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix of a body's various connective tissues. As the main component of connective tissue, it is the most abundant protein in mammals. 25% to 35% of a mammalian body's protein content is collagen. Amino acids are bound together to form a triple helix of elongated fibril known as a collagen helix. The collagen helix is mostly found in connective tissue such as cartilage, bones, tendons, ligaments, and skin. Vitamin C is vital for collagen synthesis, while Vitamin E improves its production.
Haematoxylin or hematoxylin, also called natural black 1 or C.I. 75290, is a compound extracted from heartwood of the logwood tree with a chemical formula of C
16H
14O
6. This naturally derived dye has been used as a histologic stain, as an ink and as a dye in the textile and leather industry. As a dye, haematoxylin has been called palo de Campeche, logwood extract, bluewood and blackwood. In histology, haematoxylin staining is commonly followed by counterstaining with eosin. When paired, this staining procedure is known as H&E staining and is one of the most commonly used combinations in histology. In addition to its use in the H&E stain, haematoxylin is also a component of the Papanicolaou stain which is widely used in the study of cytology specimens.
Staining is a technique used to enhance contrast in samples, generally at the microscopic level. Stains and dyes are frequently used in histology, in cytology, and in the medical fields of histopathology, hematology, and cytopathology that focus on the study and diagnoses of diseases at the microscopic level. Stains may be used to define biological tissues, cell populations, or organelles within individual cells.
A granuloma is an aggregation of macrophages that forms in response to chronic inflammation. This occurs when the immune system attempts to isolate foreign substances that it is otherwise unable to eliminate. Such substances include infectious organisms including bacteria and fungi, as well as other materials such as foreign objects, keratin, and suture fragments.
Amido black 10B is an amino acid staining azo dye used in biochemical research to stain for total protein on transferred membrane blots, such as the western blot. It is also used in criminal investigations to detect blood present with latent fingerprints - it stains the proteins in blood a blue-black color. Amido Black can be either methanol or water based as it readily dissolves in both. With picric acid, in a van Gieson procedure, it can be used to stain collagen and reticulin.
In pathology, silver staining is the use of silver to selectively alter the appearance of a target in microscopy of histological sections; in temperature gradient gel electrophoresis; and in polyacrylamide gels.
Trichrome staining is a histological staining method that uses two or more acid dyes in conjunction with a polyacid. Staining differentiates tissues by tinting them in contrasting colours. It increases the contrast of microscopic features in cells and tissues, which makes them easier to see when viewed through a microscope.
Reticular fibers, reticular fibres or reticulin is a type of fiber in connective tissue composed of type III collagen secreted by reticular cells. They are mainly composed of reticulin protein and form a network or mesh. Reticular fibers crosslink to form a fine meshwork (reticulin). This network acts as a supporting mesh in soft tissues such as liver, bone marrow, and the tissues and organs of the lymphatic system.
Masson's trichrome is a three-colour staining procedure used in histology. The recipes emerged from Claude L. Pierre Masson's (1880–1959) original formulation have different specific applications, but all are suited for distinguishing cells from surrounding connective tissue.
Hematoxylin and eosin stain is one of the principal tissue stains used in histology. It is the most widely used stain in medical diagnosis and is often the gold standard. For example, when a pathologist looks at a biopsy of a suspected cancer, the histological section is likely to be stained with H&E.
Type III Collagen is a homotrimer, or a protein composed of three identical peptide chains (monomers), each called an alpha 1 chain of type III collagen. Formally, the monomers are called collagen type III, alpha-1 chain and in humans are encoded by the COL3A1 gene. Type III collagen is one of the fibrillar collagens whose proteins have a long, inflexible, triple-helical domain.
Collagen IV is a type of collagen found primarily in the basal lamina. The collagen IV C4 domain at the C-terminus is not removed in post-translational processing, and the fibers link head-to-head, rather than in parallel. Also, collagen IV lacks the regular glycine in every third residue necessary for the tight, collagen helix. This makes the overall arrangement more sloppy with kinks. These two features cause the collagen to form in a sheet, the form of the basal lamina. Collagen IV is the more common usage, as opposed to the older terminology of "type-IV collagen". Collagen IV exists in all metazoan phyla, to whom they served as an evolutionary stepping stone to multicellularity.
Collagen XVII, previously called BP180, is a transmembrane protein which plays a critical role in maintaining the linkage between the intracellular and the extracellular structural elements involved in epidermal adhesion, identified by Diaz and colleagues in 1990.
Infantile digital fibromatosis (IDF), also termed inclusion body fibromatosis or Reye's tumor, usually occurs as a single, small, asymptomatic, nodule in the dermis on a finger or toe of infants and young children. IMF is a rare disorder with approximately 200 cases reported in the medical literature as of 2021. The World Health Organization in 2020 classified these nodules as a specific benign tumor type in the category of fibroblastic and myofibroblastic tumors. IDF was first described by the Australian pathologist Douglas Reye in 1965.
Ira Thompson Van Gieson was an American neurologist, psychiatrist, bacteriologist and neuropathologist.
Movat's stain is a pentachrome stain originally developed by Henry Zoltan Movat (1923–1995), a Hungarian-Canadian Pathologist in Toronto in 1955 to highlight the various constituents of connective tissue, especially cardiovascular tissue, by five colors in a single stained slide. In 1972, H. K. Russell, Jr. modified the technique so as to reduce the time for staining and to increase the consistency and reliability of the staining, creating the Russell–Movat stain.
Granuloma multiforme is a cutaneous condition most commonly seen in central Africa, and rarely elsewhere, characterized by skin lesions that are on the upper trunk and arms in sun-exposed areas. It may be confused with tuberculoid leprosy, with which it has clinical similarities. The condition was first noted by Gosset in the 1940s, but it was not until 1964 that Leiker coined the term to describe "a disease resembling leprosy" in his study in Nigeria.
Actinic elastosis, also known as solar elastosis, is an accumulation of abnormal elastin in the dermis of the skin, or in the conjunctiva of the eye, which occurs as a result of the cumulative effects of prolonged and excessive sun exposure, a process known as photoaging.
Verhoeff's stain, also known as Verhoeff's elastic stain (VEG) or Verhoeff–Van Gieson stain (VVG), is a staining protocol used in histology, developed by American ophthalmic surgeon and pathologist Frederick Herman Verhoeff (1874–1968) in 1908. The formulation is used to demonstrate normal or pathologic elastic fibers.
Mallory's trichrome stain also called Mallory's Triple Stain is a stain utilized in histology to aid in revealing different macromolecules that make up the cell. It uses the three stains: aniline blue, acid fuchsin, and orange G. As a result, this staining technique can reveal collagen, ordinary cytoplasm, and red blood cells. It is used in examining the collagen of connective tissue.