- Startpagina tijdschrift
- Volume 13 (1994)
- Number 1 - Proceedings of the sixth European congr...
- Stereological estimation of the total volume of duodenal mucosa and of endocrine cells in rats treated with prostaglandin E2
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Stereological estimation of the total volume of duodenal mucosa and of endocrine cells in rats treated with prostaglandin E2
Abstract
Stereological methods were applied on histological sections of 2 cm rat duodenum to determine the total volume of the mucosa, the total surface area of small intestinal epithelial lining and the total volume of endocrine cells. The effects of different oral doses of prostaglandin E2 and a methyl analogue on the parameters above were estimated following 4 weeks of treatment. The total volume of serotonin-immunoreactive cells was increased by prostaglandins E2, whereas the analogue reduced the total volume of somatostatin-immunoreactive cells compared to controls (p<0.05). The total mucosal volume and the total surface area of small intestinal epithelial lining were unaffected. Despite overestimation of endocrine cells in thick sections, the estimation of the profile area by image analysis disclosed that the changes in total volume induced by prostaglandins was most likely to be secondary to hyperplasia of endocine cells.