I must agree totally with Cynthia. I think that in trying to speed up the
process of producing slides that we often do not  show the full potential of
the hematoxylin and eosin or use our skills as histologists/morphologists. The
boundary between mineralized bone and osteoid can be very elegantly shown with
hematoxylin and eosin especially if care is taken to use dilute solutions and
carry out most of the differentiation of the eosin with water.
Two other small points.
While it is useful to examine and measure the osteoid on this surface of bone,
other parameters such as the number of active and resting osteoblasts and the
number of osteoclasts per unit length are also important measurements. An
individual measurement in isolation is therefore not always the way to go.
Several times recently, the von Kossa stain has been mentioned as a stain for
calcium. While it is true that calcium is shown by this stain, several other
minerals and other substances are also demonstrated. It is still, however, a
useful method to show mineralized bone.
Barry

Cynthia Favara wrote:

> If you are a morphologist H&E can not be beat. Problem in my opinion not
> many true morphologist left who want to put in the time and effort. Just my
> bias.
> Cynthia Favara
> Rocky Mountain Laboratories
> 903 S. 4th Street
> Hamilton, MT 59840
> 406-363-9317
> FAX 406-363-9286
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Garry Ashton [mailto:GAshton@picr.man.ac.uk]
> Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2001 9:19 AM
> To: 'histonet'
> Subject:
>
> Dear all, an easy question for some I hope.
> Excluding any immunohistochemical methods, what is the best stain to use to
> identify apoptotic cells on a paraffin or frozen section.
> Someone has said an H+E is ok if you know what you are looking for, another
> stain mentioned was thionin.
> Any suggestions gratefully received
> Garry
>
> Histology
> PICR
> Manchester
> UK