Differences in Mechanism in Staining Reactions for Mast Cells

Abstract

MAST cells are usually identified histochemically by the use of aldehyde fuchsin¹, Hale² or Rinehart³ stain, or by the metachromasia they exhibit with certain basic dyes. All these methods demonstrate mucopolysaccharides, although differences in the degree of staining of various mucopolysaccharides with the several methods have been noted⁴. Peracetic acid oxidation.(Greenspan's mixture 30 min., 25° C.)⁵ of tissue sections has been found to induce staining of certain normally unreactive substances with aldehyde fuchsin^6–8, and to alter the susceptibility of oxytalan fibres to hyaluronidase, lysozyme and elastase⁷. During the course of investigations of mucopolysaccharide reactivity after peracetic acid oxidation, an interesting change was observed in mast-cell cytoplasms. Peracetic acid oxidation followed by digestion with enzymes which hydrolyse mucopolysaccharides resulted in diverse staining reactions with the above three methods for mucopolysaccharides.