Postnatal variations in the number and size of C-cells in the rat thyroid gland.
The heterogeneous distribution of thyroid C-cells has until now hindered an objective evaluation of changes caused by age or experimental stimuli. To overcome this, a rigorous methodology has been designed to detect variations in shape, size, and number of C-cells throughout development. Using this methodology, we have demonstrated that C-cells do not significantly alter their shape with age. However, their volume increases gradually from 472 microns3 in newborn rats to 1653 microns3 in 120-day-old animals. Over the same time period, the mean number of C-cells within the thyroid gland increased 9-fold (from 1.6 x 10(4) to 1.5 x 10(5), and the number of C-cells per unit area decreased (from 6.15 x 10(4)/mm3 to 2.6 x 10(4)/mm3). We conclude that there are marked variations in size, total number, and number of C-cells per unit area in the rat thyroid gland after birth.
Conde
E
E
Departamento de Biología Celular, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain.
Martín-Lacave
I
I
Utrilla
J C
JC
González-Cámpora
R
R
Galera-Davidson
H
H
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000378:metabolism; D002452:Cell Count; D048429:Cell Size; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism
D002116:Calcitonin