Efficient staining of actinomycetoma and eumycetoma grains using henna extract

Abstract

The use of natural, nontoxic, convenient and eco-friendly dyes for histopathological diagnosis avoids some of the synthetic dyes’ hazards. I used an aqueous extract of henna at a concentration of 20 g/ml and acidified with acetic acid to stain mycetoma grains. Henna stained mycetoma grains orange-red to brown. The engulfed mycetoma grains within inflammatory cells stained well with henna extract compared to hematoxylin and eosin (H & E) and hexamine silver.

Key words::

• actinomycetoma
• chitin
• eosin
• eumycetoma
• hematoxylin
• henna
• hexamine silver
• lawsone
• mycetoma grains

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Corrigendum

Acknowledgments

I thank Allah for giving me health, strength and patience to complete this project. This project could not have been accomplished without the support of my great teacher, Dr. Yosif Mohammed Azzam Yosif Mohammed Zakout. I thank him for his guidance and support. I thank my family for their continuous encouragement.

Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of this paper.