staining ground sections

The staining of ground sections must be accomplished by staining through the plastic. I have never used ethyl methacrylate however if H&E is required then the sections may be etched with 5% formic acid for 10 minutes prior to staining with the hematoxylin.

There are a few stains that we bone heads use such as toluidine blue/basic fuchsin, the Villanueva mineralized bone stain (MIBS) or the Sanderson's rapid bone stain (RBS). My best experience is with the RBS which can be purchased from Surgipath Medical. Staining time is fast (1-2 minutes in RBS and 10-20 sections in acidified acid fuchsin), the stain is reproducible and clearly differentiates between mineralized and non-mineralized tissues within the sections. The RBS does not interfere with tetracycline labeled bone. Etching the sections prior to staining is not required.