Ultrastructural stereology: a new approach to the study of prostatic function.

Stereology is a method used to obtain quantitative information of structural changes at the light and electron microscopic level. The basic principles of stereology are outlined below. This paper shows how stereologic techniques can be used to obtain structural data from histologic and electron micrographs of intact tissue and cells. A morphometric model, which provides information on the structure of the prostatic gland has been developed for the rat prostate. The model consists of morphologically defined space and membrane compartments of the prostatic gland and the glandular cells. The alterations, induced in the glandular cells of the ventral lobe of rat prostate by the administration of a synthetic progestin (ethinyl-norgestrienone), were studied by electron microscopy. The results presented are relative to a cubic centimeter of prostatic tissue, a cubic centimeter of acinar parenchyma, and glandular cell cytoplasm. An attempt to relate stereologic and biochemical data is shown.