Theory and practice of stereological techniques applied to the estimation of cell number and nuclear volume in the testis

摘要: The historical background to contemporary approaches the estimation of cell/ nuclear number and volume in testes is reviewed. limitations older geometric model-based cell/nuclear are discussed, need for absolute estimates cell rather than ratio examined. physical optical disector direct numerical density and, hence, presented together with data illustrating their operational efficiency testis. New nuclear/cell volume, using point-sampled intercept family methods, illustrated, example Sertoli nucleus. use both classical transverse newer vertical section explored. Estimation (point-sampled procedure) (nucleator rotator methods) distributions on conventional sections discussed. testis shown produce a consistent bias 120-day-old animals, all estimators. Comparison (measured sections) number-weighted distribution suggests coefficient variation 0.4–0.5, suggesting either random or stage-dependent size which requires further exploration. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.