Simultaneous differential staining of cartilage and bone in rodent fetuses: an alcian blue and alizarin red S procedure without glacial acetic acid.

Differential staining of cartilage and bone has several applications including developmental toxicology studies of new chemical candidates for pharmaceutical, industrial, and environmental use. It has been more common to stain fetal bone only using the dye alizarin red S; however, failure to evaluate the cartilaginous portion of the skeleton may result in the failure to identify toxicologically important alterations in skeletal morphology. Previously, differential staining of fetal cartilage and bone was best achieved by combining alizarin red S for staining bone with alcian blue to stain cartilage in glacial acetic acid solution; however, occupational hazards posed by the use of glacial acetic acid make these methods undesirable. Replacement of the glacial acetic acid with potassium hydrogen phthalate eliminates these hazards without compromising the quality of the stained specimen.