Staining of blood cells with periodic acid/salicyloyl hydrazide (PA-SH). A fluorescent method for demonstrating glycogen.

By J. BURNS AND P. B. NEAME T lIE PERIODIC ACID-SCHIFF (PAS ) REACTION is generally accepted as the method of choice for demonstrating glycogen in blood cells. This reaction depends upon the presence, in glycogen, of vicinal glycols which are oxidized by periodic acid to dialdehydes. The latter are subsequently condensed with Schiff’s reagent to produce a magenta-red product, visible by light microscopy. Stoward1 has now conjugated acidified solutions of salicyloyl hydrazide witim dialdehydes formed from the periodic acid oxidation of vicinal glycols in guinea pig tissue sections. The reactive sites were said to fluoresce an intense blue on exposure to ultraviolet light. He recommended the use of salicyloyl hydrazide as the standard reagent for the demonstration of vicinal glycols in tissue sections. Because glycogen is a common constituent of certain normal and abnormal blood cells, and because its presence in some primitive cells has been used as a diagnostic aid in the differentiation of leukemias, we decided to determine if the periodic acid/salicyloyl hydrazide (PA-SH) method would be suitable for demonstrating glycogen in blood and l)one marrow cells.