title: Phenolic acridine orange fluorescent stain for mycobacteria.
abstract: A new fluorescence acid-fast staining method with acridine orange as the specific stain is presented. Only two reagents are required: the acridine orange-specific stain and a destaining-counterstaining reagent. Compared with auramine fluorescence acid-fast staining, there was less nonspecific staining of non-acid-fast debris which fluoresced a pale green contrasting color to provide a background in which to search for the red-to-orange fluorescing acid-fast bacilli. The results of the study indicate that the acridine orange method is superior to the auramine method in detecting acid-fast bacilli in specimen smears.
authors.affiliation: Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA.
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Smithwick
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Bigbie
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Karlix
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Wallis
mesh_terms: D000143:Acids; D000165:Acridine Orange; D001576:Benzophenoneidum; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000166:cytology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000143:Acids; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D001576:Benzophenoneidum; D000165:Acridine Orange