Safranin O staining using a microwave oven

We investigated the effects of microwave irradiation on a safranin O staini ng method for paraffin sections of formalin fixed rabbit larynx. The contro l sections were stained according to the conventional method, and the exper imental sections were stained in microwave oven for 10 sec at 360 W in Weig ert's iron hematoxylin, and for 30 sec at 360 W in fast green and 0.1% safr anin O staining solutions. Light microscopic examination of the sections re vealed that the microwave heating did not adversely affect the staining pro perties of cartilage tissue compared to the conventional staining method. S mall differences such as darker staining of the matrix and shrinkage of the cytoplasm was observed in some microwave treated sections. The present stu dy revealed that microwave application can be used safely for the safranin O method with the advantage of reduced staining time.