title: Pigments: Iron and Friends.
abstract: Iron, particularly hemosiderin, is a commonly observed pigment in cytology. Many pigments appear green to blue to black, making differentiation of pigment types difficult. While cytologic clues such as erythrophagia can help determine whether pigment is iron, Perl's Prussian Blue stain is used to highlight iron when these clues are not present. Other special stains can identify similar pigments such as copper. Identification of pigments is important as it directs cytologic interpretation, thus directly influencing patient diagnosis. This paper also presents basic iron metabolism, iron disorders in small animals, and laboratory assessment of iron disorders.
authors: Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, 1644 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
authors: Lauren B
authors: LB
authors: Radakovich
authors: Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, 1644 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. Electronic address: Christine.Olver@ColoState.edu.
authors: Christine S
authors: CS
authors: Olver
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis / Q000662:veterinary; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood*; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood*; D010860:Pigments, Biological; D013194:Staining and Labeling
chemical_list: D010860:Pigments, Biological; D005293:Ferritins; D007501:Iron
keywords: Canine; Cytology; Feline; Hemosiderin; Iron metabolism; Prussian blue