Staining of collagen and elastin in tissue slices with the methyl-benzothiazol-2-on-hydrazone reagent

Collagen and elastic fibres were stained in cryostatic slices of various tissues with the MBTH reaction, specific for aldehyde groups. Depending on the source, collagen and elastin gave different colours, easy to distinguish. It appears that this simple technique could be useful not only to visualize cross-linking in vivo of these fibres but also to explore their pathological alterations.