Discover the High Iron Diamine-Alcian Blue (HID-AB) Staining Kit is used to distinguish between sulfated acid mucins and salivary acid mucins. This kit has been expertly formulated with high quality ingredients to provide consistent and reliable results. Enhance your research with a trusted staining solution.

Principles 

N,N-dimethyl-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride and N,N-dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride are both ammonium salts that have a positive charge when dissociated. The diammonium salt is combined with sulfated acid mucins to form a complex, which can be observed through a color change. The reaction is slow, and Ferric chloride is used as a catalyst to speed up staining. On one hand, the oxidation of the two ammonium salts forms a brown-black cationic chromogen, which speeds up staining. On the other hand, the pH of the stain solution decreases to 1.4. At this pH value, only the sulfate group reacts with the diammonium salt to form a complex of
purple-brown to brown-black, as the carboxyl group on the section cannot combine with the diammonium salt. Subsequently, Alicin blue (pH 2.5) stains the carboxylated sialic acid mucus as blue, allowing the acidic mucus of the two main groups to be shown separately.

Features

High specificity

Simple to operate

Easy to identify