[Gimenez staining: a rapid method for initial identification of legionella pneumophila in Amoeba trophozoite].
OBJECTIVE
To establish a rapid staining method for facilitating initial identification of Legionella pneumophila in amoebal trophozoite.


METHODS
Acanthamoeba polyphaga and Legionella pneumophila were co-cultured under laboratory condition. At consecutive time points during the culture, smears of the cultured products were made on glass slides for staining purposes. Different types of stainings including Gram's staining, Gimenez staining, Giemsa staining and immunofluorescence were used to determine the best method for the identification of amoebal pathogens.


RESULTS
Gimenez staining technique is simpler and yields better results as compared with the other three stainings. Gimenez stain gives the best color and contrast for amoeba and amoebal Legionella Amoeba trophozoites and/or cysts showed a distinct purplish blue with amoebal Legionella in red. Amoebal Legionella can be distinguished clearly at an earlier time of co cul ture, providing a proper sensitivity. It takes only 10 minutes to finish the operation. The other techniques require the use of expensive reagents, are relatively time-consuming, and involve complex staining procedures.


CONCLUSIONS
Gimenez staining is of value for the initial identification of amoebal pathogens, and it is suitable for laboratory diagnosis.
Shen
Jie
J
School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
Jiang
Qing-wu
QW
Li
Qing-xue
QX
Chen
Hong-you
HY
Li
Zi-Hua
ZH
D000656:Amoeba / Q000166:cytology / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D016952:Legionella pneumophila / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D053058:Trophozoites / Q000382:microbiology*