Ziehl–Neelsen stain

A differential staining method that uses carbol fuchsin and acid-alcohol decolorization to identify acid-fast bacteria, especially mycobacteria.

Carbol fuchsin: A red phenolic dye solution used as the primary stain in acid-fast staining. It penetrates waxy bacterial cell walls and colors acid-fast cells red.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis: A pathogenic bacterium that causes tuberculosis in humans. Its acid-fast cell wall makes it a principal target of this stain.
Auramine-rhodamine stain: A fluorescent acid-fast staining method using auramine and rhodamine dyes. Fluorescence microscopy can screen larger areas more rapidly than this conventional stain.
Franz Ziehl: A German bacteriologist associated with an early carbol fuchsin method for staining tubercle bacilli. His contribution supplied the phenol-fuchsin staining approach later used in the named method.
Acid-alcohol: An acidic alcohol solution used to remove stains from cells that do not retain them strongly. It decolorizes non-acid-fast cells while acid-fast cells retain carbol fuchsin.
Tuberculosis: An infectious disease caused by members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, usually affecting the lungs. Staining sputum for acid-fast bacilli can provide rapid evidence of pulmonary infection.
Fite stain: A modified acid-fast staining method designed to preserve weakly acid-fast organisms in tissue sections. Its gentler processing is used especially when detecting Mycobacterium leprae in tissue.
Friedrich Neelsen: A German pathologist associated with adding acid decolorization to staining methods for tubercle bacilli. His modification helped establish the acid-fast differential principle.
Mycolic acid: A long-chain fatty acid found in the cell walls of mycobacteria and related organisms. Its waxy cell-wall layer helps mycobacteria resist acid-alcohol decolorization.
Sputum microscopy: Microscopic examination of expectorated respiratory secretions for cells and microorganisms. The stain can reveal acid-fast bacilli in respiratory specimens.

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