Cite this page: Pernick N. Giemsa stain. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/stainsgiemsa.html. Accessed January 16th, 2021.
Definition / general
- As a hematology stain, works best with alcohol fixed smears
- As a histology stain, detects mast cells and microorganisms, such as Giardia or Helicobacter
- A "Romanowsky-type" stain, composed of mixtures of methylene blue, azure, and eosin compounds
- Methylene blue is a metachromatic stain, meaning that some tissue components (mast cell granules, cartilage, mucin, amyloid) stain purple and not blue