Histochemistry: historical development and current use in pathology

Abstract

We describe the history of the histochemical stains that contributed most to the development of modern pathology during the last two centuries. Histochemical stains are presented in a list, which provides the essential information about year, country and main use of each to enable the reader to follow the chronological and geographical history of histochemistry. In addition to the historical evaluation of histochemistry development, we investigate how many classical histochemical stains survive in a modern laboratory of pathology and how often they are used for diagnostic practice compared to immunohistochemical (IHC) techniques. A ratio of about one histochemical reaction to 13 IHC reactions was tabulated. Finally, our data make it possible to define different cultural approaches to the terminology of histochemical and IHC stains: the former were based on eponyms, which link the stain with the name of its inventor, while the latter use a more impersonal biological terminology.

Next-generation endomyocardial biopsy: the potential of confocal and super-resolution microscopy

“…For example, the ATTR (transthyretin) form requires liver transplantation [27][28][29]. The above methodologies have an established history in pathology [30] with the required infrastructure and expertise being generally available. In addition, this heritage has facilitated the standardisation between institutions [22], but may have led to a cautious approach in adopting newer microscopy technologies.…”

The Journal of Anatomy: origin and evolution

“…Many new histochemical stains were added during the following century (see Riva et al. , for a historical review). Immunohistochemistry was developed in the 1980s.…”

“…Histological staining was in its infancy in 1866: Toluidine blue was introduced in 1856, a carmine-gelatine mixture in 1858 and haematoxylin in 1865, but eosin was not available until 1875. Many new histochemical stains were added during the following century (see Riva et al 2014, for a historical review). Immunohistochemistry was developed in the 1980s.…”

Aportaciones de la anatomía patológica en el diagnóstico de las infecciones cutáneas: una perspectiva histórica

“…Con la entrada del siglo XX, el interé s de la histoquímica se centró en nuevas té cnicas para mejorar la identificació n de microorganismos o el reconocimiento de aquellos que aú n no se podían teñ ir: se introdujeron las té cnicas para espiroquetas (Whartin y Chronister 1920), bacterias Gram-positivas (Brown y Brenn 1931) o algunas variantes del Romanowsky para la identificació n de pará sitos (Giemsa 1902, Wright 1902, May-Grunwald 1902) 15 .…”

“…Tras alcanzar un cé nit en torno a la tercera dé cada del siglo XX, pocas té cnicas histoquímicas fueron ya introducidas a partir de 1940, con alguna excepció n aislada en lo que se refiere a las enfermedades infecciosas, tal como el Grocott en 1955 para la identificació n de hongos 15 .…”