A rapid silver staining method for identification of Mycobacterium leprae in histologic sections

A few methods have been reported for the purpose of staining Mycobacterium leprae in paraffin sections, including Fite oil fuchsin method, auramine-rhodamine method, and Blanco-Fite silver method. Among these staining techniques, Fite oil fuchsin method and auramine-rhodamine method are popular. However, the Blanco-Fite silver method takes approximately 20 days. Therefore, we developed a new procedure for rapid identification of M. leprae in paraffin sections using another silver solution and found that the procedure gave stable and satisfactory results. This new method has proved superior to others in demonstrating a reliable staining for M. leprae.