Dong Yingyue, Zhang Dandan, Cao Yingri, Zhang Yanfei, Sun Xiaozhe, Chen Tongsheng, Zhang Yuanyuan, Xu Guoheng
Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Front Physiol. 2022 Nov 14;13:1026019. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1026019. eCollection 2022.
As a novel origin of adipocytes, the superficial fascia, a typical soft connective tissue, has abundant adipocytes and preadipocytes, accompanied by numerous mast cells. Blood vessels pass through the fascia to form a network structure. The more reasonable statistical analysis methods can provide a new method for in-depth study of soft connective tissue by clarifying the spatial distribution relation between cells (point structure) and blood vessels (linear structure). This study adopted the Guidolin et al. statistical analysis methods used by epidemiology and ecology to quantitatively analyze the distribution pattern and correlations among blood vessels, adipocytes, and mast cells. Image-processing software and self-written computer programs were used to analyze images of whole-mounted fascia, and the relevant data were measured automatically. Voronoi's analysis revealed that the vascular network was non-uniformly distributed. In fascia with average area of 3.75 cm, quantitative histological analysis revealed 81.16% of mast cells and 74.74% of adipocytes distributed within 60 μm of blood vessels. A Spearman's correlation coefficient (rs) of >0.7 showed the co-distribution of the two types of cells under different areas. Ridge regression analysis further revealed the spatial correlation among blood vessels, adipocytes and mast cells. The combination of classical epidemiological analysis and extended computer program analysis can better analyze the spatial distribution relation between cells and vessels and should provide an effective analysis method for study of the histology and morphology of fascia and related connective tissues.
作为脂肪细胞的一种新来源，浅筋膜是一种典型的软结缔组织，含有丰富的脂肪细胞和前脂肪细胞，并伴有大量肥大细胞。血管穿过筋膜形成网络结构。更合理的统计分析方法可以通过阐明细胞（点结构）与血管（线结构）之间的空间分布关系，为深入研究软结缔组织提供一种新方法。本研究采用流行病学和生态学中Guidolin等人使用的统计分析方法，对血管、脂肪细胞和肥大细胞之间的分布模式及相关性进行定量分析。利用图像处理软件和自编计算机程序对整装筋膜图像进行分析，并自动测量相关数据。Voronoi分析显示血管网络分布不均匀。在平均面积为3.75平方厘米的筋膜中，定量组织学分析显示81.16%的肥大细胞和74.74%的脂肪细胞分布在血管周围60微米范围内。Spearman相关系数（rs）>0.7表明在不同区域这两种细胞共同分布。岭回归分析进一步揭示了血管、脂肪细胞和肥大细胞之间的空间相关性。经典流行病学分析与扩展计算机程序分析相结合能够更好地分析细胞与血管之间的空间分布关系，应为筋膜及相关结缔组织的组织学和形态学研究提供一种有效的分析方法。
