The initial laboratory diagnosis of tuberculosis and fast acid bacteria depends on the direct examination of stained smears. The cell wall of Mycobacterium cells is rich in complex lipids that prevent the penetration of normal aniline dyes into the cell so that samples taken from clinical specimens to detect Mycobacterium are not stained. But when the sample is stained with fluorochromes under special staining conditions, these are not easily decolorized, even with alcohol-acid solutions. Because of this characteristic, all members of Mycobacterium spp., not only M. tuberculosis, are referred to as acid-fast bacilli (AFB). However, when stained with fluorochrome dyes, staining is easy, so microscopic detection of stained sample smears is the best choice among diagnostic methods.