Merck's Tb-fluor - Phenol-free Fluorescence Detection of Mycobacteria

The safe, clean and userfriendly staining kit for fluorescence detection of mycobacteria in histological and clinical material

Up to now, phenol was the first choice among additives to staining solutions. But because of its numerous noxious qualities, safety measures had to be taken during its application. And of course this has always been a matter of expense, too.

With the new, phenol-free staining kit we offer you a solution, which prevents your health from damage while adhering to the high quality standards by Merck. A solution that makes sure you can concentrate on what's essential: clean results.

Mycobacteria are difficult to stain because of the high proportion of lipid and wax in their cell walls. Once stained, acid fast mycobacteria keep their colouring even after treatment with strong decolourizing solutions as HCl ethanol. Here the use of a modified staining solution makes inclusion of phenol in the staining solution unnecessary.

The sensitivity and specificity of the staining results are identical with those obtained using the classical (phenol-employing) staining method. The Tb-fluor phenol-free is suitable for paraffin sections and clinical specimen such as sputum, bronchial lavage, urine and similar.

Liquid material can be pre-treated with Sputofluol® to oxidatively free the mycobacteria from the surrounding cell and mucous material by the action of hypochlorit, a ingredient of Sputofluol®, and thus ultimately to facilitate the assessment of the mycobacteria in the specimen.

More flexibility and optical brilliance

The kit contains auramine O and rhodamine B in the staining solution for more flexibility and optical brilliance. A positive result is visible with red-orange or yellow-green fluorescence.

To be able to gain an optimal impression of the fluorescence, the intrinsic fluorescence of the background must be suppressed. For this purpose, potassium permanganate is used preferentially.

For further information about the wide range of products available from Merck for TB detection, please contact us.