Abstract: Objective To explore the characteristic of different cartilage staining methods for condylar fibrocartilage and femoral hyaline cartilage in rabbit. Methods Temporomandibular joints and knee joints were harvested from healthy female Newzealand White rabbits. HE staining, Toluidine blue staining, Alcian blue staining, Safranin OAlcian blue staining, Safranin O staining, Safranin OFast green staining were used to observe and analyse the organizational structure of the cartilage under optical microscope. Results Organizational structure of the articular cartilage was clear in HE staining, such as cartilage matrix was dyed blue and bone was dyed red. Articular cartilage matrix was dyed violet and bone was not stained in Toluidine blue staining. Articular cartilage matrix was dyed light blue and bone was not stained in Alcian blue staining. Articular cartilage matrix was dyed light blue and bone was dyed light red in Safranin OAlcian blue staining, but the fiber layer and proliferation layer of condylar cartilage were dyed red. In Safranin O staining, bone was dyed light red, whereas the cartilage matrix of the condyle was dyed red and the cartilage matrix of the femur was dyed orange. Articular cartilage matrix was dyed red and bone was dyed green in Safranin OFast green staining. Meanwhile, the fiber layer of the condylar cartilage was dyed green. Conclusions Different cartilage staining methods show structure of cartilage tissue specificity. We recommend that we should choose suitable cartilage staining methods according to our research purpose and specimen in the future study.

Key words: articular cartilage, condyle, femur, growth plate, cartilage staining