Histomorphometry & Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Ann Anat. 2014 Jan;196(1):57-66. doi: 10.1016/j.aanat.2012.07.008. Epub 2012 Sep 16.
The morphology of the testis may be altered in various developmental, physiological and pathological conditions and these changes are reflected by the alterations in the reproductive capacity. Studying testicular morphology under these conditions or following therapeutic interventions relies on quantitative data. Design-based stereology provides quantitative morphological data on the most important characteristics of the testis. The total volume of the testis, seminiferous tubules, interstitial tissues and germinal epithelium, length, diameter and cross sectional area of the tubules as well as the number of Sertoli, Leydig, myoid cells, spermatogonia, spermatocytes and spermatids can be estimated. The present paper explains and demonstrates accurate and efficient stereological methods of sampling and analysis of testicular specimens according to the basics made by the pioneer stereologists. Second-order stereology can provide additional information on the spatial arrangement of the content of the tissues, cells or organelles in testis. These methods are valuable enough to be included in the toolbox of testicular research and are essential whenever quantitative data on morphological characteristics of the testis are required including testicular biopsy of human or in experimental studies.
睾丸的形态可能会在各种发育、生理和病理条件下发生改变，这些变化反映在生殖能力的改变上。在这些条件下或在治疗干预后研究睾丸形态依赖于定量数据。基于设计的体视学为睾丸的最重要特征提供了定量形态学数据。睾丸的总体积、生精小管、间质组织和生殖上皮、小管的长度、直径和横截面积以及支持细胞、间质细胞、肌样细胞、精原细胞、精母细胞和精子的数量都可以估计。本文根据先驱体视学家提出的基本原则，解释和演示了准确、高效的睾丸标本体视学法取样和分析方法。二阶体视学可以提供关于睾丸组织、细胞或细胞器内容的空间排列的附加信息。这些方法非常有价值，足以被纳入睾丸研究的工具箱中，并且在需要睾丸形态特征的定量数据时，包括人类睾丸活检或实验研究都是必不可少的。
