Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Paint It Black: Staining of the Yeast Cryptococcus Neoformans with India Ink

Forman Erwin Siagian

International Journal of Pathogen Research · pp. 56–64 · Published 16 May 2024

10.9734/ijpr/2024/v13i3286

Abstract

Aims: To rectify the application of negative staining using India Ink dye in order to visualize the opportunistic yeast, Cryptococcus neoformans and its capsule. Discussion: The yeast C. neoformans is generally considered an opportunistic fungal pathogen due to its propensity to infect immunocompromised hosts, particularly those with HIV (+). This yeast responsible for causing severe disseminated Cryptococcus meningoencephalitis (CM) in humans. The type of clinical sample commonly sent for laboratory analysis of suspected patients is the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that usually obtained from spinal tap or lumbar puncture procedure. laboratory analysis to confirm CM initially by direct visualization of Cryptococci via light microscopy. Visualization of capsule, as the hallmark of C. neoformans is easy when appropriate number of yeasts are available in the clinical sample. India Ink is the dye of choice to stain C. neoformans and its capsule. The pathognomonic resemblance of its capsule is that of a halo appearance, whether thin or thick, surrounding the cell made visible by suspending the yeast in India ink preparations. Conclusion: India ink stain is still widely used for the detection of cryptococci in CSF, particularly in resource-limited laboratory/health service. Its sensitivity can be improved.

Meningitis cryptococcosis encapsulated halo cell dye cerebrospinal fluid fungal infection

References (43)

  1. 1 Protein damage and degradation by oxygen radicals. I. general aspects. [DOI]
  2. 2 A consensus protocol for the standardization of cerebrospinal fluid collection and biobanking [DOI]
  3. 3 Multisite Validation of Cryptococcal Antigen Lateral Flow Assay and Quantification by Laser Thermal Contrast [DOI]
  4. 4 Outcomes of Cryptococcal Meningitis in Uganda Before and After the Availability of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy [DOI]
  5. 5 LATERAL FLOW ASSAY FOR CRYPTOCOCCAL ANTIGEN: AN IMPORTANT ADVANCE TO IMPROVE THE CONTINUUM OF HIV CARE AND REDUCE CRYPTOCOCCAL MENINGITIS-RELATED MORTALITY [DOI]
  6. 6 Mechanisms of Pulmonary Escape and Dissemination by Cryptococcus neoformans [DOI]
  7. 7 Dormancy in Cryptococcus neoformans: 60 years of accumulating evidence [DOI]
  8. 8 Cryptococcus escapes host immunity: What do we know? [DOI]
  9. 9 Kicking sleepers out of bed: Macrophages promote reactivation of dormant Cryptococcus neoformans by extracellular vesicle release and non-lytic exocytosis [DOI]
  10. 10 Skin markings methods and guidelines: A reality in image guidance radiotherapy era [DOI]
  11. 11 Macrophage Mediated Immunomodulation During Cryptococcus Pulmonary Infection [DOI]
  12. 12 A simple, one-step polychromatic staining method for epoxy-embedded semithin tissue sections [DOI]
  13. 13 Direct and Repeated Measurement of Heart and Brain Oxygenation Using In Vivo EPR Oximetry [DOI]
  14. 14 Effects of fixation on bacterial cellular dimensions and integrity [DOI]
  15. 15 Tattoo Pigments Are Localized Intracellularly in the Epidermis and Dermis of Fresh and Old Tattoos: In vivo Study Using Two-Photon Excited Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging [DOI]
  16. 16 Modified India ink preparation for Cryptococcus neoformans in cerebrospinal fluid specimens [DOI]
  17. 17 Preliminary Staining of Bacteria: Negative Stain [DOI]
  18. 18 Testing for Cryptococcosis at a Major Commercial Laboratory—United States, 2019–2021 [DOI]
  19. 19 Method for Inactivating and Fixing Unstained Smear Preparations of Mycobacterium tuberculosis for Improved Laboratory Safety [DOI]
  20. 20 Indian ink vs tissue marking dye: a quantitative comparison of two widely used macroscopical staining tool [DOI]
  21. 21 Cryptococcal meningoencephalitis in human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in douala, cameroon: A cross sectional study [DOI]
  22. 22 Capsule Stain Protocols
  23. 23 A comparative evaluation of the Gram stain and India ink stain for the rapid diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis in HIV infected patients in Durban [DOI]
  24. 24 Principles of applied microbiology and biotechnology: Technique for the screening of antimicrobial herbs [DOI]
  25. 25 Cryptococcosis in oncology patients: a case series in a tertiary care cancer centre [DOI]
  26. 26 An Electron Microscopic India Ink Technique for Demonstrating Capsules on Microorganisms: Studies with Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae [DOI]
  27. 27 Effect of particle sizes in India ink on its use in evaluation of apical seal.
  28. 28 Noninvasive measurement of cell volume changes by negative staining [DOI]
  29. 29 Comparative Study of Acrylic Color and India Ink for Their Use as a Surgical Margin Inks in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma [DOI]
  30. 30 Sensitivity of Cerebrospinal Fluid Cytology for the Diagnosis of Cryptococcal Infections [DOI]
  31. 31 An alternative to India ink stain [DOI]
  32. 32 Optical properties in the visible range of two different India ink used as biological phantoms [DOI]
  33. 33 Evaluation the efficacy of some culture media in melanin production by Cryptococcus neoformans [DOI]
  34. 34 Inking of gross specimens: a systematic review [DOI]
  35. 35 Biochemical Aspects of Cell Staining [DOI]
  36. 36 Single step modified ink staining for Tzanck test: Quick detection of herpetic giant cells in Tzanck smear [DOI]
  37. 37 Neonatal Cryptococcosis: Beware of False-positive Results [DOI]
  38. 38 India ink: a time-tested histological marker [DOI]
  39. 39 Chronic Meningitis [DOI]
  40. 40 Cryptococcosis [DOI]
  41. 41 Systemic Mycoses [DOI]
  42. 42 Emulsions, Foams, and Suspensions: Fundamentals and Applications [DOI]
  43. 43 MICROSCOPY | Transmission Electron Microscopy [DOI]

Cited by 0

No indexed citations yet.

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

0

Page views

0

PDF downloads

0

Outbound clicks

0

Citations

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

No views recorded yet.

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

No traffic recorded yet.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.