COPPER STAINS AND THE SYNDROME OF PRIMARY BILIARY-CIRRHOSIS - EVALUATION OF STAINING METHODS AND THEIR USEFULNESS FOR DIAGNOSIS AND TRIALS OF PENICILLAMINE TREATMENT
Use of Shikata''s stain was a sensitive method for the demonstration of Cu-protein complexes but use of the rhodamine stain may be more reliable. Interobserver agreement was better with Shikata''s stain. Hepatic Cu increased with the histologic progression of chronic nonsuppurative destructive cholangitis (CNDC). All specimens that contained Mallory bodies and most specimens (91%) that contained bile yielded positive Cu stains. No correlation was found between positive Cu stains and other histologic features. A strongly positive Cu stain aided in the diagnosis of CNDC. All specimens with negative Cu stains contained less than 250 .mu.g of Cu/gram of dry wt. The chemical Cu content could not be predicted with certainty from a strongly positive Cu stain. Shikata''s method seemed adequate to evaluate penicillamine treatment trials.