Acta Stereologica Acta Stereologica -  Volume 18 (1999)  Number 1 - May 1999 

Stereological estimation of size-weighted enterocyte mean size in bat small intestine

Lars M. Karlsson
Department of Anatomy, University of Berne, Bühlstrasse 26, CH-3000 Berne 9, Switzerland
Andrew N. Makanya
Department of Anatomy, University of Berne, Bühlstrasse 26, CH-3000 Berne 9, Switzerland; Department of Veterinary Anatomy, University of Nairobi, Box 30197, Nairobi, Kenya

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.

Keywords : Bat, enterocyte, intestine, isotropic sections, size-weighted size, stereology

To cite this article

Lars M. Karlsson & Andrew N. Makanya, «Stereological estimation of size-weighted enterocyte mean size in bat small intestine», Acta Stereologica [En ligne], Volume 18 (1999), Number 1 - May 1999, 39-47 URL : https://popups.ulg.ac.be/0351-580x/index.php?id=85.