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- Volume 18 (1999)
- Number 1 - May 1999
- Stereological estimation of size-weighted enterocyte mean size in bat small intestine
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Stereological estimation of size-weighted enterocyte mean size in bat small intestine
Abstract
The total absorptive surface area is often the target parameter in stereological studies of the intestine. Here we alternatively considered two descriptors of mean size of the absorptive enterocytes: their surface-weighted mean volume Es(V), and volume-weighted mean surface area Ev(S). The practical applicability of the corresponding estimators was demonstrated using an anisotropic biological tissue, namely the bat small intestine. The volume-weighted enterocyte mean volume Ev(V), was also considered because it was obtained as a ‘by-product’ from the estimation of Ev(S). This preliminary study indicates that the considered descriptors of enterocyte mean size may be lower in the middle part than in the proximal and distal parts of the bat intestine.