Toluidine blue stain

Toluidine blue is a basic thiazine metachromatic dye with high affinity for acidic tissue components.

It stains nucleic acids blue and polysaccharides purple and also increases the sharpness of histology slide images. It is especially useful today for staining chromosomes in plant or animal tissues, as a replacement for Aceto-orcein stain.

Results

The results depend on the studied organs:

- Mastocytes in purple

- Cartilage in purple

- Mucins in purple/red

- Nuclei in blue

It is used in forensic examination, renal pathology and neuropathology.