[The ferricyanide reduction reaction as a staining method in liver biopsy]

In paraffin sections from human liver tissue, ferric ferricyanide reduction reaction enables to visualize various reducing substances. Firstly it is cholestasis due to reduction capacity of bilirubin. Another reducing substance is lipofuscin pigment. Finally, the reaction represents the only way to demonstrate the needle-shaped cytoplasmic inclusions in routine practice considered to be specific for porphyria cutanea tarda. The method is simple and inexpensive and it may be recommended as a suitable supplementary staining procedure for liver biopsies.