EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON VARYING HAEMATOXYLIN DYE UPTAKE ON PROSTATE CANCER SECTIONS

ABSTRACT

Haematoxylin dye has been diagnostically recognized as the commonly used stain in the study of both diseased and normal cells. This dye is a naturally presenting compound obtained from a particular part of a logwood tree (Hematoxylin campechianum). Despite the development of molecular approaches in histology and subsequent substitution of cytological and immunohistochemistry for microanatomical research, alum hematoxylins are still almost exclusively utilized for nuclear counterstaining in more recent techniques. The aim of this study was to experiment on different types of hematoxylins demonstrated on prostate cancer sections to ascertain the best one for routine diagnosis. The study design was by retrieving an established prostate cancer tissue block from achieves in Histopathology laboratory, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Edo State Nigeria. Sections were cut from 4 different tissue blocks to produce serial ribbons using a Leica Semiautomatic microtome and subsequently stained with varying types of alum hematoxylin. A total of 16 slides were produced representing four sections that were stained with a particular type of alum hematoxylin (Harris hematoxylin, Ehrlich’s hematoxylin, Gill’s hematoxylin and Cole’s hematoxylin) respectively. The level of stain uptake by the tissue, the intensity of the staining, and the ability of the stain to aid accurate differentiation of tissue components were factors that were used in the grading of each stain. The stains were graded as weakly positive reaction (+), moderately positive reaction (++) and strongly positive reaction (+++) based on the abovementioned criteria. The stroma and the acini were the morphological markers accessed in prostate cancer both are of important indices for the morphological studies in prostate. The results from this experiment however showed that all stains ultimately gave cell nuclei a pleasing blue coloration of varying hue and intensity, depending on the type of hematoxylin. Results of the staining were consistent all through for each stain across all tissue sections, with each stain maintaining its staining pattern across all slides. However, Gill’s haematoxylin produced an excellent result and was considered the best for histological staining of prostate cancer tissues compared to Erlich’s, Cole’s and Harris hematoxylin, which showed moderately appreciable results. In conclusion, Gill’s haematoxylin produced the best results on histological staining of prostate cancer tissues in this study and should be considered as standard gold routine stain for staining prostrate sections in histology. However, further studies are advocated on the comparative usage of alum haematoxylin on normal prostate glands.