Standardization of staining in glycosaminoglycan histochemistry: alcian blue, its analogues, and diamine methods

Glycosaminoglycans are identified in tissue sections by various histochemical techniques including staining with alcian blue and its analogues, such as cuprolinic blue and cupromeronic blue, or with high and low iron diamine methods. The variation in staining results in particularly confusing in the case of alcian blue, where not only are several different brands of alcian blue available but also several different staining protocols are used. If the results obtained by these techniques are compared, they often do not match. We have developed a dot blot technique for quality control of glycosaminoglycan histochemistry to standardize the staining protocols. This staining technique enables histochemists to test particular batches of alcian blue or its analogues for selective glycosaminoglycan staining, thus improving control of histochemical results. The results obtained using the dot blot assay indicate that it is necessary to test each batch of dye individually to obtain valid results in glycosaminoglycan histochemistry.