Wright-Giemsa and nonspecific esterase staining of cells.

This appendix provides two protocols for staining cells. The stains used in the Wright-Giemsa protocol, the Romanowsky stains, are a mixture of methylene blue (and other closely related thiazine dyes) and eosin. The staining protocol is a two-stage method that allows for a more intense staining of the nuclei than would be possible if the Wright and Giemsa stains were mixed together. In the second protocol, nonspecific esterase stain are used to identify cell types containing esterases that have a characteris termediate that can be coupled with a substance, hexazotized pararosaniline, to yield a colored precipitate. Thus, this staining reaction can be used to identify monocytes/macrophages in cell preparations.