The main difference between Giemsa staining and Wright stain is that the Giemsa staining is used to chromosomes stain to chromosomal aberrations to identify. But Wright staining is used to distinguish blood cell types . In addition, the Giemsa stain consists of a mixture of Azure B, methylene blue and eosin dye, while the Wright stain consists of a mixture of eosin and methylene blue dyes.

In short, Giemsa and Wright staining are two types of difference stains mainly used in the differential staining of blood smears. In addition, both stains are Romanowsky stains, which are neutral stains made from a mixture of oxidized methylene blue dyes (azure) and eosin Y.

Key areas covered

1. What is Giemsa stain?   - Definition, components, coloring 2. What is Wright coloring - Definition, components, coloring 3. What are the similarities between Giemsa coloring and Wright coloring - Overview of common features 4. What is the difference between Giemsa coloring and Wright - Coloring - comparison of main differences

key terms

Eosin, Giemsa stain, methylene blue, wrist stain

What is Giemsa stain?

Giemsa staining is a form of Romanowsky staining named after the German chemist Gustav Giemsa. It is mainly used to detect malaria parasites in blood smears. Generally, malaria parasites have a red or pink core and blue cytoplasm with Giemsa staining. Specifically, P. vivax shows that Schüffner dots can be seen as an even carpet of pink dots in the cytoplasm of the red blood cells . Meanwhile P. falciparum shows unevenly distributed masonry fissures and coarse bodies in the cytoplasm of the erythrocytes.

Figure 1: Papillary thyroid carcinoma Giemsa stain

In addition, the Giemsa stain consists of a mixture of Azure B, methylene blue and eosin dye. Of these, Azure B and Eosin are acidic dyes, while Methylene Blue is the basic dye. The acidic dyes stain basic components of the cell such as the cytoplasm and cell granules in pale colors. Meanwhile, basic dyes color acidic components of the cell, such as the cell nucleus, dark purple or blue.

In addition, for its uses in histology, it is important for routine blood smear examination. In addition, it is important in cytogenetics to stain chromosomes and identify chromosome aberrations through G-banding (Giemsa banding).

What is Wright stain?

Wrist stain is another type of Romanowsky stain named after James Homer Wright. It is important in staining peripheral blood smears, urine specimens, and bone marrow aspirates. It is widely used in white blood cell differentiation because wrist coloration easily differentiates between blood cells. In addition, the main components of wrist stain are methylene blue and eosin.

Figure 2: Eosinophils in the peripheral blood smear

In addition, another related form of Romanowsky stain is Wright's buffered stain or Wright-Giemsa stain, which is a combination of Wright and Giemsa stains. Typically, Wright-Giemsa buffered stains include eosin Y, azure B, and methylene blue. Thus, this coloring increases the brightness of the "reddish-purple" color of the cytoplasmic granules.

Similarities between Giemsa stain and Wright stain

• Giemsa stain and Wright stain are two types of differential stains that are important when staining different cell types.
• They consist of eosin, an acidic dye that stains basic components of the cell, and methylene blue, the basic dye that stains acidic components.
• In addition, both dyes color the basic components cytoplasm and granules in pale pink or blue and acidic components such as the cell nucleus in dark blue or purple. Also, they stain red blood cells a pink color.
• The common types of cells that are stained with these dyes are blood cells.
• They are also important for other cytogenetic applications.

Difference between Giemsa stain and Wright stain

definition

Giemsa stain refers to a stain named after a German scientist, Gustav Giemsa. It is important in the cytogenetics and histopathological diagnosis of malaria and other parasites. Meanwhile, Wright stain refers to a hematological stain that helps differentiate blood cell types.

Named after

Giemsa dye was named after Gustav Giemsa while wrist dye was named after James Homer's Wrist.

Consisting of

The Giemsa stain consists of a mixture of Azure B, methylene blue and eosin dye, while the Wright stain consists of a mixture of eosin and methylene blue dyes.

Trade-offs

Giemsa stain uses both thick and thin smears, while Wright stain uses only thin smears.

coloring

The Giemsa stain stains erythrocytes pink, platelets light pink, lymphocyte cytoplasm sky blue, monocyte cytoplasm light blue and nuclear chromatin of leukocytes magenta. In contrast, Wright stain stains erythrocytes red to pink, neutrophils in dark purple nuclei, pale pink cytoplasm, reddish purple small granules, eosinophils in blue nuclei, pale pink cytoplasm, red to orange-red large granules, basophils violet to dark blue nucleus, dark purple, almost black large granules, lymphocytes dark purple to deep bluish-purple, sky-blue cytoplasm, platelets in purple to purple grains.

meaning

Giemsa stain is important in staining chromosomes to identify chromosomal aberrations, while Wright stain is important in distinguishing blood cell types.

diploma

Giemsa stain is a type of differential stain that is particularly important for identifying chromosomal aberrations in cytogenetics. It was named after Gustav Giemsa and contains a mixture of Azure B, methylene blue and eosin. Meanwhile, Wright staining is another type of differential staining named after James Homer Wrist. However, this dye only contains a mixture of methylene blue and eosin. It is important for the differentiation of blood cells. Hence, the main difference between Giemsa stain and Wright stain is in their components and meaning.

References:

1. Rijal, Nisha. “Giemsa staining: Principle, procedure and results.” Learn microbiology online, August 26, 2019, available here .2. "Wright's stain." HiMedia laboratories. Available here .

Image courtesy:

1. “Eosinophils in peripheral blood smear” by Ed Uthman ( CC BY 2.0 ) via Flickr 2. “Papillary thyroid carcinoma, FNA, Giemsa stain” by Ed Uthman ( CC BY 2.0 ) via Flickr