High Iron Diamine-Alcian Blue (HID-AB) Staining Kit

Principle

N,N-dimethyl-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride and N,N-dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine
dihydrochloride are both ammonium salts that have a positive charge when dissociated. The
diammonium salt is combined with sulfated acid mucins to form a complex, which can be observed
through a color change. The reaction is slow, and Ferric chloride is used as a catalyst to speed up
staining. On one hand, the oxidation of the two ammonium salts forms a brown-black cationic
chromogen, which speeds up staining. On the other hand, the pH of the stain solution decreases to
1.4. At this pH value, only the sulfate group reacts with the diammonium salt to form a complex of
purple-brown to brown-black, as the carboxyl group on the section cannot combine with the
diammonium salt. Subsequently, Alicin blue (pH 2.5) stains the carboxylated sialic acid mucus as
blue, allowing the acidic mucus of the two main groups to be shown separately.

Features

a) High specificity

b) Simple to operate

c) Easy to identify

Components