Modification of the silver impregnation technique of Bielschowsky for use in glycol methacrylate-embedded brain tissue.

The modified Bielschowsky stain has become the standard silver impregnation technique for use in paraffin-embedded tissue sections for identifying abnormalities of neuritic processes in a variety of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Recently, glycol methacrylate embedding has been used increasingly as a substitute for paraffin embedding of tissue, because it results in less tissue distortion during processing and provides greater clarity and resolution of cellular architecture and structural details. We have been able to modify the Bielschowsky stain for use in glycol methacrylate-embedded brain sections. The use of this technique will permit more accurate quantitation of the histopathologic changes in neuritic processes in neurodegenerative diseases.