Eosinophilic

Main staining types when using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E).
A basophil granulocyte is surrounded by lightly staining eosinophilic erythrocytes in an H&E staining.

Eosinophilic (Greek suffix -phil-, meaning loves eosin) is the staining of tissues, cells, or organelles after they have been washed with eosin, a dye.

Eosin is an acidic dye for staining cell cytoplasm, collagen, and muscle fibers.[1][2] Eosinophilic describes the appearance of cells and structures seen in histological sections that take up the staining dye eosin.[2] Such eosinophilic structures are, in general, composed of protein.[3]

Eosin is usually combined with a stain called hematoxylin to produce a hematoxylin- and eosin-stained section (also called an H&E stain, HE or H+E section). It is the most widely used histological stain for a medical diagnosis.[3] When a pathologist examines a biopsy of a suspected cancer, they will stain the biopsy with H&E.

Some structures seen inside cells are described as being eosinophilic; for example, Lewy and Mallory bodies.[4] Some cells are also described as eosinophilic, such as Leukocytes.[5]

  1. ^ Tubbs, R. Shane; Rizk, Elias; Shoja, Mohammadali; Loukas, Marios; Barbaro, Nicholas; Spinner, Robert J. (2015). Nerves and Nerve Injuries: Vol 1: History, Embryology, Anatomy, Imaging, and Diagnostics. Academic Press. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-12-410447-1.
  2. ^ a b Sharma, Sonal; Khanna, Geetika (2019). Textbook of Pathology and Genetics for Nurses E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 9. ISBN 978-8-13-125538-4.
  3. ^ a b Leong, Franz Joel; Dartois, Veronique; Dick, Thomas (2016). A Color Atlas of Comparative Pathology of Pulmonary Tuberculosis. CRC Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-1-43-983530-2.
  4. ^ Eosinophilic. Medline Plus. Accessed March 2nd, 2012.
  5. ^ Dixon, Frank J. (1986). Advances in Immunology, Volume 39. Academic Press. p. 323. ISBN 9780120224395.