Name a glycogen storage disease demonstrated by best carmine?

• A. Von Gierke
• B. Pompe
• C. Andersen
• D. McArdle

Answer: (A)

Best Carmine stains glycogen in tissue, making it a useful tool to visualize where glycogen accumulates. In Von Gierke disease, there is massive accumulation of glycogen in hepatocytes due to a defect in glucose-6-phosphatase, so the liver shows strong, widespread cytoplasmic glycogen that Best Carmine highlights vividly. The other diseases involve glycogen in different locations or forms—Pompe disease stores glycogen mainly in lysosomes, Andersen disease forms abnormal polyglucosan bodies, and McArdle disease affects muscle glycogen—patterns that are not as consistently demonstrated by Best Carmine staining. Therefore, the stain best demonstrates the characteristic hepatic glycogen buildup seen in Von Gierke disease.