Tired of daily filtering of your hematoxylin? Or having to change out every couple of days? Or maybe you have a new pathologist who is not happy with the H&E stains and protocol that have been used for years.

So you start to look for new H&E options, but there are so many! Traditional. Classic. Premium. Hybrid. What happened to the days of the only options being Harris or Gill?  

While these traditional options are still available, new, hybrid/premium stains have been developed that offer many benefits over the more traditional stains. With a little help, you can easily navigate the new world of premium hematoxylin options. 

What are the benefits of Premium hematoxylins? 

• Premium hematoxylins offer characteristics of both Harris and Gill. Can’t decide between them? Choose one such as StatLab’s Reserve Hematoxylin that offers qualities of both Harris and Gill with rapid, crisp nuclear staining, and can stain up to 3500 slides per 500mL. 
• More control is available to meet your preferences – do you prefer distinct purple or blue hematoxylin staining, excellent cellular contrast, brilliant nuclear and cytoplasmic staining, or mucin staining? Our options of premium hematoxylins, eosins, and acid rinses allow for any of these. 
• Premium hematoxylins offer a much higher slide throughput than classic stains. While a traditional Gill or Harris is only recommended for use up to 1500 slides, premium stains can offer a much higher throughput of 2500-3500 slides. 
• Excellent for both histology and cytology applications. 
• No filtering required. Who can argue with that?  

If Harris and Gill have always been around, why would I want to switch? 

• Lab efficiency 
• No filtering required, saving up to an hour of time every week!  
• Over 1,000 more slides can be stained before changing the stains, saving valuable time and money.
• Cost savings – 1 pint of hematoxylin can last almost twice as long.

How do I optimize a new stain? 

• Decide what characteristics you or your pathologists are looking for in an H&E stain 
  
  • Blue or purple 
  • Most common tissue types (skin, GIs, etc.) 
  • Distinct nuclear detail 
  • Mucin staining 
  • Cellular contrast 
  • Vibrant cytoplasmic staining 
  • Staining intensity desired 
• Do your research and talk to your sales rep to decide which options are available and obtain some samples. 
• Use control tissue such as appendix or placenta and stain slides using the recommended starting protocol for the stains being used. 
• Adjust hematoxylin or eosin staining time to reach the desired intensity and nuclear detail.  
• Too much differentiation or not enough? Adjust the acid rinse time to correct.  

Don’t have time to optimize new H&E reagents or tweak your protocol? We’re on your team! Take advantage of StatLab’s Stain Optimization Program and our team of dedicated histotech experts will do the work for you! Check it out here.   
 
Partial to Richard Allen 7211? Try Vintage Hematoxylin with consistent, high-quality staining for up to 2500 slides. Offers unsurpassed nuclear delineation, no background, and does not require daily filtering. 
 
What about a preference for Leica SelecTech? Try Select Hematoxylin with rapid staining and brilliant nuclear chromatin delineation. Also provides excellent staining qualities for up to 2500 slides.