Authors: Gordon, C.¹; Van Deun, A.²; Lumb, R.³

Source: The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Volume 13, Number 1, January 2009 , pp. 130-135(6)

Publisher: International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease

Abstract:

SETTING: An investigation of commercially available basic fuchsin (BF) dye powders used for the detection of acid-fast bacilli (AFB).

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether single, or multiple, assays may predict the performance of BF in the Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) method.

DESIGN: The composition and staining properties of six BF dye samples were assessed using continuous recording spectrophotometry, reverse phase thin-layer chromatography (RPTLC) and a standardised ZN biological staining test.

RESULTS: Variable proportions of BF homologues could be demonstrated in the samples, but neither spectroscopy nor RPTLC was fully predictive of their staining quality. ZN staining of standard smears was needed to identify five powders that yielded satisfactory results and one powder with unsatisfactory performance. Increasing the BF concentration did not always result in improved staining.

CONCLUSIONS: Simple analytical methods, such as spectrophotometry and RPTLC, should be complemented by biological staining of control smears to assess the quality of BF dye powders. This allows tuberculosis control programmes to avoid procurement of BF dyes that would fail to detect AFB even when strictly adhering to current international guidelines for ZN staining.

Keywords: tuberculosis; laboratory diagnosis; microscopy; staining; quality; Ziehl-Neelsen

Document Type: Regular paper

Affiliations: 1: Sansom Institute, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia 2: International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Paris, France 3: Institute of Medical & Veterinary Science, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Publication date: 2009-01-01

More about this publication?

• The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease publishes articles on all aspects of lung health, including public health-related issues such as training programmes, cost-benefit analysis, legislation, epidemiology, intervention studies and health systems research. The IJTLD is dedicated to the continuing education of physicians and health personnel and the dissemination of information on tuberculosis and lung health world-wide.

  Certain IJTLD articles are selected for translation into French, Spanish, Chinese or Russian. They are available on the Union website

• Editorial Board
• Information for Authors
• Subscribe to this Title
• ingentaconnect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites

Related content

• In this: publication
• By this: publisher
• In this Subject: Internal Medicine
• By this author: Gordon, C. ;  Van Deun, A. ;  Lumb, R.

Website © Publishing Technology. Article copyright remains with the publisher, society or author(s) as specified within the article.

• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Information for advertisers