Heterogeneous staining of rat hepatocyte nuclei by HBFP technique

The non-enzymatic histochemical technique Haematoxylin--Basic Fuchsin--picric acid (HBFP) was studied in fresh-frozen and Carnoy-fixed, paraffin-embedded rat liver sections. The hepatocyte nuclei fell into two populations and showed either a crimson red or purple staining in frozen as well as paraffin sections. The heterogeneous staining of the rat heptocyte nuclei was also present when the tissue sections were stained by Methyl Green--Pyronin stain. The differing nuclear staining was present in the isolated nuclei also. The HBFP technique, therefore, appears potentially useful when applied to liver and other tissues as well.