title: Picrosirius red staining: a useful tool to appraise collagen networks in normal and pathological tissues.
abstract: Specific staining of the extracellular matrix components is especially helpful in studying tissue remodeling, particularly in the case of connective tissue pathologies. As developed by Junqueira and colleagues in 1979, specific staining by Picrosirius red is one of the most important stains to study collagen networks in different tissues. Under polarized light, collagen bundles appear green, red or yellow, and are easily differentiated from the black background, thus allowing for quantitative morphometric analysis. As Junqueira and colleagues point out, many studies use color staining to differentiate collagen bundles and to specify collagen types, yet other studies report that polarized colors only reflect fiber thickness and packing. Using a simple histological example, our study illustrates the inability of Picrosirius red staining to differentiate collagen types, since the absorbed amount of polarized light by this dye strictly depends on the orientation of the collagen bundles.
authors.affiliation: Saint Joseph University, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Beirut, Lebanon (RL, RY, NN, KS)UMR CNRS 7244, CSPBAT-LBPS, UFR SMBH, Paris 13 University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Bobigny, France (DL, SC)Biochemistry Department, Dental School, Paris Descartes University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Montrouge, France (GG).
authors.forename: Raed
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lattouf
authors.affiliation: Saint Joseph University, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Beirut, Lebanon (RL, RY, NN, KS)UMR CNRS 7244, CSPBAT-LBPS, UFR SMBH, Paris 13 University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Bobigny, France (DL, SC)Biochemistry Department, Dental School, Paris Descartes University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Montrouge, France (GG) ronald.younes@usj.edu.lb.
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Younes
authors.affiliation: Saint Joseph University, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Beirut, Lebanon (RL, RY, NN, KS)UMR CNRS 7244, CSPBAT-LBPS, UFR SMBH, Paris 13 University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Bobigny, France (DL, SC)Biochemistry Department, Dental School, Paris Descartes University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Montrouge, France (GG).
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lutomski
authors.affiliation: Saint Joseph University, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Beirut, Lebanon (RL, RY, NN, KS)UMR CNRS 7244, CSPBAT-LBPS, UFR SMBH, Paris 13 University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Bobigny, France (DL, SC)Biochemistry Department, Dental School, Paris Descartes University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Montrouge, France (GG).
authors.forename: Nada
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Naaman
authors.affiliation: Saint Joseph University, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Beirut, Lebanon (RL, RY, NN, KS)UMR CNRS 7244, CSPBAT-LBPS, UFR SMBH, Paris 13 University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Bobigny, France (DL, SC)Biochemistry Department, Dental School, Paris Descartes University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Montrouge, France (GG).
authors.forename: Gaston
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Godeau
authors.affiliation: Saint Joseph University, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Beirut, Lebanon (RL, RY, NN, KS)UMR CNRS 7244, CSPBAT-LBPS, UFR SMBH, Paris 13 University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Bobigny, France (DL, SC)Biochemistry Department, Dental School, Paris Descartes University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Montrouge, France (GG).
authors.forename: Karim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Senni
authors.affiliation: Saint Joseph University, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Beirut, Lebanon (RL, RY, NN, KS)UMR CNRS 7244, CSPBAT-LBPS, UFR SMBH, Paris 13 University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Bobigny, France (DL, SC)Biochemistry Department, Dental School, Paris Descartes University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Montrouge, France (GG).
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Changotade
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001391:Azo Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D003094:Collagen / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D003238:Connective Tissue / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D004535:Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D008853:Microscopy; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001391:Azo Compounds; C009798:C.I. direct red 80; D003094:Collagen
keywords: Ehlers-Danlos syndrome; birefringence; collagen fibers; picrosirius red staining polarized light