Lillie's trichrome is a combination of dyes used in

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vis ...

. It is similar to

Masson's trichrome stain Masson's trichrome is a three-colour staining procedure used in histology. The recipes evolved from Claude L. Pierre Masson's (1880–1959) original formulation have different specific applications, but all are suited for distinguishing cells f ...

, but it uses

Biebrich scarlet Biebrich scarlet (C.I. 26905) is a molecule used in Lillie's trichrome. The dye was created in 1878 by the German chemist Rudolf Nietzki. Biebrich scarlet dyes are used to color hydrophobic materials like fats and oils. The dye is an illegal dye ...

for the plasma stain. It was initially published by Ralph D. Lillie in 1940. It is applied by submerging the fixated sample into the following three solutions:

Weigert's iron hematoxylin Weigert's elastic stain is a combination of stains used in histology which is useful in identifying elastic fibers. Often orcein or a combination of resorcinol and fuchsine are used for staining. For counterstaining cell nuclei nuclear fast red ...

working solution, Biebrich scarlet solution, and

Fast Green FCF Fast Green FCF, also called Food green 3, FD&C Green No. 3, Green 1724, Solid Green FCF, and C.I. 42053, is a turquoise triarylmethane food dye. Its E number is E143. Fast Green FCF is recommended as a replacement of Light Green SF yellowish in ...

solution. The resulting stains are black cell nuclei, brown cytoplasm, red muscle and myelinated fibers, blue collagen, and scarlet erythrocytes.

Applications

Trichrome stains are normally used to differentiate between collagen and muscle tissues. Some studies that benefit from its application include end stage liver disease (

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may ...

muscular dystrophy Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affe ...

, and tumor analysis.

References

External links

Lillie's trichrome
at StainsFile.info {{Stains Histology Staining