Timm’s sulphide silver method has so far been considered a very sensitive technique for demonstrating metal ions, in particular zinc in the central nervous system. The principle of this technique is that metals in the tissue can be transformed histochemically to metal sulphides. Subsequently, metal sulphides catalyze the reduction of silver ions by a reducing agent to metallic grains that are visible under a light or electron microscope (for review, cf. ref. 1). Studies using this technique have provided a better understanding of not only the localization and distribution of zinc but also its possible function in the brain¹.  Nevertheless, the reliability and complexity of Timm's sulphide silver stains often act as a limiting factor to its widespread applications for the studies of neurodegenerative diseases.

FD Rapid TimmStain Kit™ is designed based on the methods described by Haug¹ and Sloviter². The reagents and procedure of the FD Rapid TimmStain Kit™ have been optimized to achieve a high degree of both specificity and sensitivity for the demonstration of metal ions, especially zinc in the brain of experimental animals. The kit can be used with both frozen and paraffin sections. Moreover, the Timm-stained sections can be counterstained with nuclear stains, such as Nissl to visualize more details of seizure-induced morphological alterations (see below).