EOSIN OR PHLOXIN/SAFRAN, two approaches for a similar result

Here in America and in many other parts of the world, hematoxylin-eosin staining is used as a routine stain for all tissues.

But in a French-speaking village in Quebec, some pathologists are valiantly resisting the invader and continue to use hematoxylin-phloxin-safran staining as a routine stain.

But what is the real difference between the two approaches? When eosin Y is used regressively, the alcohol that decolors the surplus also differentiates it, enabling collagen fibers to be stained dark pink, making them easily distinguishable from the pinkish cytoplasm. With the phloxine-safran combination, the cytoplasm is also pinkish, but the collagen turns yellow under the effect of the saffron.

Clearly, eosin does the trick in most cases, otherwise it wouldn't be so widely used. However, phloxine-safran offers a much greater contrast of collagen fibers, enabling the detection of reticulofibrosis which would otherwise go unnoticed.

Here's a comparison of the two cytoplasmic stains :

Contrasts are therefore more pronounced with phloxine-safran. But if you want to see for yourself, Chaptec offers ready-to-use phloxine and saffron in powder form. So if you'd like to try them out, let us know!