Wright's stainis ahematologicstain that facilitates the differentiation ofblood celltypes. It is classically a mixture ofeosin(red) andmethylene bluedyes. It is used primarily to stainperipheral blood smears,urine samples, andbone marrowaspirates,which are examined under alight microscope.Incytogenetics,it is used to stain chromosomes to facilitate diagnosis of syndromes and diseases.
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It is named forJames Homer Wright,who devised the stain, a modification of theRomanowsky stain,in 1902. Because it distinguishes easily between blood cells, it became widely used for performing differentialwhite blood cellcounts, which are routinely ordered when conditions such as infection or leukemia are suspected.
The related stains are known as thebuffered Wright stain,theWright-Giemsa stain(a combination of Wright andGiemsastains), and thebuffered Wright-Giemsa stain,and specific instructions depend on the solutions being used, which may includeeosin Y,azure B,andmethylene blue(some commercial preparations combine solutions to simplify staining).[1]TheMay–Grünwald stain,which produces a more intense coloration, also takes a longer time to perform.
Urine samples stained with Wright's stain will identifyeosinophils,which can indicateinterstitial nephritisorurinary tract infection.[2]
White blood cells stained with Wright's stain:
