A method for rostrocaudal integration of morphometric information from transmitter-identified cell groups. A morphometrical identification and description of 5-HT cell groups in the medulla oblongata of the rat.
A method has been developed to integrate rostrocaudal information from morphometrically characterized 5-HT nerve cell groups visualized by means of the indirect immunofluorescence technique in single coronal sections of the neuroaxis. The present method has been applied to the 5-HT positive cells of the medulla oblongata of the rat. 5-HT cell body and cell group parameters were measured by the use of a semiautomatic image analyzer (Kontron, MOP AMO 2) plugged into an Apple II computer. The density distribution of 5-HT positive cells was also studied by dividing the area analyzed into unitary squares (about 120 X 120 micron) and then by considering the number of 5-HT cells falling in each of these squares. The existence of a 5-HT cell group was determined by testing the randomness of the 5-HT profiles per unitary square. The entire population of 5-HT positive cells as well as the 5-HT cell groups were described in terms of gravity center coordinates, mean maximal diameter and homogeneity index. A rostrocaudal representation of the gravity centers and of the dispersion of the 5-HT nerve cell groups around them provided an exact three-dimensional description of the respective locations of the 5-HT cell groups within the medulla oblongata. These methods can be applied to all types of transmitter-identified cell groups and at any level of the neuroaxis.
D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D003201:Computers; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008297:Male; D008526:Medulla Oblongata / Q000166:cytology*; D008838:Microcomputers; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*
D012701:Serotonin