A new pentachrome method for the simultaneous staining of collagen and sulfated mucopolysaccharides

Collagen is one of the most common fibers in the extracellular matrix, where sulfated mucopolysaccharides are also located. In addition, sulfated mucopolysaccharides are present in some globet cells and secretory glands. The objective of this article is to develop a new staining method that detects these two macromolecules simultaneously in the same sample. The method described stains tissues in five fundamental colors: collagen in red; sulfated mucopolysaccharides in violet; red blood cells in yellow; muscle in orange; and nuclei in green. As a conclusion, it will be interesting in the future to evaluate whether this method could be used as a basic histological method, as a histology teaching tool, or even in histopathological and cytopathological studies.