| CORRESPONDENCE |
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| Year : 2004 | Volume
: 22
| Issue : 1 | Page : 73 |
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Rapid and efficient screening for malarial parasites using acridine orange staining
N Hemvani , T Mani , DS Chitnis
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Choithram Hospital and Research Centre, Manik Bagh Road, Indore - 452 001, Madhya Pradesh, India
Correspondence Address:
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Choithram Hospital and Research Centre, Manik Bagh Road, Indore - 452 001, Madhya Pradesh, India
How to cite this article:
Hemvani N, Mani T, Chitnis D S. Rapid and efficient screening for malarial parasites using acridine orange staining. Indian J Med Microbiol 2004;22:73 |
How to cite this URL:
Hemvani N, Mani T, Chitnis D S. Rapid and efficient screening for malarial parasites using acridine orange staining. Indian J Med Microbiol [serial online] 2004 [cited 2021 Feb 26];22:73. Available from: https://www.ijmm.org/text.asp?2004/22/1/73/8074 |
Dear Editor,
S Das[1] in his correspondence brought out limitations of the acridine orange staining for malarial parasite detection in their set up. It appears, he had used QBC like system and the findings were based on 11 P.falciparum and 6 P.vivax positive samples. We had introduced a modification wherein 75 microlitre of blood drop is mixed with 10 microlitre of acridine orange (AO) solution and the slide pressed with 22x50 mm cover-glass and seen under epifluorescence microscope (Zeiss, Germany). The initial study[2] was based on the comparison of 2420 blood samples by conventional Leishman staining and the modified AP staining. The positivity of malarial parasites separated by the modified AO staining was 248 against 109 by Leishman stained thick smears. Subsequent to our publication we have screened 13,251 samples and detected 432 positives for P.falciparum and P.vivax trophozoites, ring forms, shizonts and gametocytes. The leucocytes were having characteristic nuclear morphology and were much larger than trophozoites and ring form and had no chance of confusion between them. Initially the microscopist needs to learn to differentiate between platelets and the ring forms due to similar sizes. However, the ring forms have orange cytoplasm with apple yellow chromatin dot while the platelets have very dull fluorescence with no chromatin material. In fact, our modification of AO staining reveals clear morphological details of various parasitic stages and the preparation is even thicker than the conventional thick smears and this permits efficient and fast viewing of even low parasitic loads without centrifugation of blood samples.
| ~ References | |  |
| 1. | Das S. Shortcomings of Acridine orange staining for malarial parasite. Indian J Med Microbiol 2003;21(1): 66.  |
| 2. | Hemvani N, Chitnis DS, Dixit DS, Asolkar MV. Acridine orange stained blood wet mounts for fluorescent detection of malaria. Indian J Pathol Mcirobiol 1999;43(1):125-128. |
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