Which combination is used to confirm glycogen in tissue sections?

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Multiple Choice

Which combination is used to confirm glycogen in tissue sections?

Explanation:
Glycogen is a carbohydrate that stains with PAS, giving a magenta color in tissue sections. But many other carbohydrates also react with PAS, so a second step is needed to confirm glycogen specifically. Using PAS after diastase digestion does this: diastase enzymatically digests glycogen, so if the magenta PAS stain disappears after treatment, the substance was glycogen. If the staining remains despite diastase, it’s not glycogen but another PAS-positive carbohydrate. Other stains mentioned target different components—Alcian blue stains acidic mucopolysaccharides, Ziehl-Neelsen detects acid-fast bacteria, and Gram stains bacteria—so they don’t identify glycogen.

Glycogen is a carbohydrate that stains with PAS, giving a magenta color in tissue sections. But many other carbohydrates also react with PAS, so a second step is needed to confirm glycogen specifically. Using PAS after diastase digestion does this: diastase enzymatically digests glycogen, so if the magenta PAS stain disappears after treatment, the substance was glycogen. If the staining remains despite diastase, it’s not glycogen but another PAS-positive carbohydrate. Other stains mentioned target different components—Alcian blue stains acidic mucopolysaccharides, Ziehl-Neelsen detects acid-fast bacteria, and Gram stains bacteria—so they don’t identify glycogen.

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