Electron microscopic morphometry of the zona glomerulosa cells of the Wistar rat.

Results of morphometric measurements were compared on the cells of the zona glomerulosa (ZG) of the adrenal gland of the rat. The mean area covered by the cells, the nuclei, the mitochondria and the lipid droplets, as well as the surface density of the endoplasmic reticulum membrane and of internal mitochondrial membrane indicated an inhomogeneity even in the ZG cells of the same animal, with considerable deviations in the ZG of different animals. The dark and light ZG cells were compared too. The results suggest hormonal-functional differences, both among the normal animals and among the cells of the same animals.