Phenolic Acridine Orange

Detect acid-fast bacilli in clinical specimens with Thermo Scientific™ Remel™ Phenolic Acridine Orange.

In 1977, Kronvall and Myhre described the use of acridine orange stain to detect microorganisms in direct smears prepared from clinical specimens¹. In 1955, Smithwick et al. described an acid-fast method which incorporated an acridine orange solution that contained phenol². Phenolic Acridine Orange stain was found to produce less nonspecific fluorescence of background material. This makes it superior to auramine O.

Phenolic Acridine Orange is a fluorescent stain recommended for use with Phenolic Acridine Orange Decolorizer (REF R40181) for detection of acid-fast bacilli in clinical specimens.

Phenolic Acridine Orange stain is a dye which binds to the nucleic acid of bacteria and other cells, either in the native or the denatured state. Phenol enhances penetration of acridine orange through the mycobacterial cell wall.

• Ready-to-use – Liquid reagent
• Easy-to-observe- Examine smears with a fluorescent microscope with 200 X magnification and confirm the morphology with 600 X magnification.
• Easy-to-interpret- Positive test shows bright-red to orange fluorescent bacilli with characteristic morphology confirmed at 600 X magnification. In case of negative test no bright-red to orange fluorescent bacilli are observed after examination of 30 fields at 200 X magnification.

Phenolic Acridine Orange contains acridine orange (CAS 10127-02-3) as the dye, glycerol (CAS 56-81-5) which increases the viscosity of the solution and keeps the stain on the smear during the staining procedure, and phenol crystals (CAS 108-95-2) to enhance penetration of the dye through the mycobacterial cell wall. It also contains 95% ethyl alcohol (CAS 64-17-5) and demineralized water (CAS 7732-18-5) to make up the solution.

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Remel™ and Oxoid™ products are now part of the Thermo Scientific brand.