Sertoli cell nuclear changes in human testicular biopsies as revealed by three dimensional reconstruction.

Serial semithin sections of human testicular biopsy material were used for three-dimensional reconstruction in order to obtain information about Sertoli cell nuclei in normal and pathologically altered seminiferous epithelia. The three dimensional reconstruction program is based on the triangulation of image point series. It includes a calculation modus for determining surfaces and an approximation formula for the estimation of volumes. Nuclei from the following specimens were reconstructed and for each the volume (v), surface (s), and a quotient (v/s), which is regarded as a marker for the degree of membrane infoldings, were calculated as follows: (1) For normal spermatogenesis (stage 1, 2, 3, 5; n = 18) v = 409.7 +/- 33.0 microns 3, s = 429.6 +/- 40.5 microns 2, v/s = 0.96 +/- 0.05.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)