Abstract
We mainly depend on the eyes to discriminate colors and the evaluation thus becomes subjective. The development of the spectrophotometer, however, allows us to analyze colors objectively. In this study, we tried to evaluate objectively the stainability of the hematoxylin–eosin (HE) stain using this instrument. Specimens stained with the HE stain were collected from 18 laboratories, which were members of the Study Group for Pathology and Cytology Laboratory, Aichi Association of Laboratory Technologists, and their stain densities were analyzed using a spectrophotometer (Konica-Minolta CM5, Japan). In addition, 18 hematoxylin solutions as well as 18 eosin solutions were divided into 3 categories according to their color densities, namely, dark, intermediate, and light. Then, we paired each one of the 18 hematoxylin solutions with 3 different densities of eosin solutions, and in the same way, each one of the 18 eosin solutions with 3 different densities of hematoxylin solutions. The results showed that the main factor contributing to the effect on the stainability of the HE stain was not the density of the hematoxylin solution but rather that of the eosin solution. This finding suggests that the control of the density of the eosin solution could be the main factor for determining the final result of the HE stain. We consider that adjusting the density of the eosin solution might be the most important key element for the standardization of the HE stain.
