Effect of prolonged staining with hematoxylin on detecting Helicobacter pylori in hematoxylin-eosin-stained gastric mucosa.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is identifiable in hematoxylin-eosin (HE)-stained preparations, particularly under a prolonged hematoxylin staining condition. The staining intensity of H. pylori bodies was increased when the hematoxylin staining period was doubled from 5 min, the routine period of Meyer's hematoxylin staining, to 10 min. The staining intensity of the background epithelial nuclei was only mildly increased. Hematoxylin-eosin staining employing a prolonged hematoxylin staining period gave detectability of H. pylori comparable to May-Giemsa and immunoperoxidase staining. The modified HE method is thus very useful and practical for identifying H. pylori in routine gastric biopsy specimens.