Methenamine-silver staining: a simple and sensitive staining method for senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles

An improved methenamine-silver impregnation method is presented which exhibits sensitivity for amyloid substances comparable to that of anti-beta protein immunostaining. In optimally treated sections, this technique stained both beta-amyloid deposits and neurofibrillary tangles, which are known to have a beta-pleated structure. This simple procedure allows a large number of sections to be stained for routine examination.