Neutrophil granulation stained with May Grunwald Giemsa or pure Azure B-eosin Y quantified by image analysis

Neutrophil granulation was quantified after staining with May Grunwald Giemsa or with the pure dyes Azure B and eosin Y. Spinner slides of the buffy coat of 3 normal subjects and 14 persons with different grades of toxic granulation were studied. Morphometric parameters were measured using an image analysis computer (Texture Analysis System, Leitz Wetzlar, FRG). The parameters for granulation varied over a wider range in Azure B (AzB) than in May Grunwald Giemsa (MGG) stained granulocytes. This is in accordance with the visual microscopy observation, that granulation is more pronounced after staining with AzB than MGG. The predominant shade of the nucleus was similar in both stains, whereas considerable and variable differences in the shade of the cytoplasm were found.