Department of Histology and Embryology, Medical Faculty, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Turkey.
Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
J Neurosci Methods. 2018 Dec 1;310:45-53. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2018.07.012. Epub 2018 Jul 23.
Stereology is a collection of methods which makes it possible to produce interpretations about actual three-dimensional features of objects based on data obtained from their two-dimensional sections or images. Quantitative morphological studies of the central nervous system have undergone significant development. In particular, new approaches known as design-based methods have been successfully applied to neuromorphological research. The morphology of macroscopic and microscopic structures, numbers of cells in organs and structures, and geometrical features such as length, volume, surface area and volume components of the organ concerned can be estimated in an unbiased manner using stereological techniques. The most practical and simplest stereological method is the fractionator technique, one of the most widely used methods for total particle number estimation. This review summarizes fractionator methods in theory and in practice. The most important feature of the methods is the simplicity of its application and underlying reasoning. Although there are three different types of the fractionator method, physical, optical and isotropic (biochemical), the logic underlying its applications remains the same. The fractionator method is one of the strongest and best options among available methods for estimation of the total number of cells in a given structure or organ. The second part of this review focuses on recent developments in stereology, including how to deal with lost caps, with tissue section deformation and shrinkage, and discusses issues of calibration, particle identification, and the role of stereology in the era of a non-histological alternative to counting of cells, the isotropic fractionator (brain soup technique).
体视学是一组方法，它可以根据从二维切片或图像获得的数据，对物体的实际三维特征进行解释。中枢神经系统的定量形态学研究已经取得了显著的发展。特别是，被称为基于设计的新方法已经成功地应用于神经形态学研究。使用体视学技术，可以以无偏倚的方式估计宏观和微观结构的形态、器官和结构中的细胞数量、以及器官的长度、体积、表面积和体积分量等几何特征。最实用和最简单的体视学方法是分选型技术，这是估计总粒子数最广泛使用的方法之一。这篇综述总结了分选型方法的理论和实践。该方法最重要的特点是其应用和基本推理的简单性。尽管分选型方法有物理、光学和各向同性（生化）三种不同类型，但应用的逻辑是相同的。分选型方法是在给定结构或器官中估计细胞总数的最有力和最佳选择之一。这篇综述的第二部分重点介绍了体视学的最新发展，包括如何处理丢失的盖、组织切片变形和收缩，并讨论了校准、粒子识别的问题，以及体视学在非组织学替代细胞计数的时代的作用，即各向同性分选型（脑汤技术）。
