Haematoxylin and eosin stain (H&E stain; sometimes referred to as HE stain) is the most commonly used stain for light microscopy in histology and histopathology. Hematoxylin, a basic dye, stains nuclei blue; eosin, an acidic dye, stains the cytoplasm pink. Erythrocytes appear red.
Stain names are lower case unless they are named after a person, in which case a possessive s is not used:
toluidine blue orcein stain Masson trichrome stain Wright stain
Some stain names are commonly abbreviated:
periodic acid–Schiff (PAS) stain [also note the en dash in this name]
