title: Computerized determination of adipocyte size.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Fat cell size is a fundamental parameter in the study of adipose tissue metabolism, because it markedly influences the cellular rates of metabolism. Previous techniques for the sizing of adipocytes are often complicated or time-consuming. The aim of this study was to develop a new, computerized method for rapid and accurate determination of adipocyte size in a cell suspension obtained by incubating human or rat adipose tissue biopsies with collagenase.
  
  
  METHODS
  The cell suspension was placed between a siliconized glass slide and a cover slip. Using the reference method [designated as (R)], the cell diameters were determined manually using a microscope with a calibrated ocular. The new method presented here [designated as (C)] was based on computerized image analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After two well-defined corrective adjustments, measurements with (R) and (C) agreed very well. The small remaining differences seemed, in fact, to depend on inconsistencies in (R).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We propose that (C) constitutes a valuable tool to study fat cell size, because this method is fast and allows the assessment of a sufficient number of cells to get reliable data on size distribution. Furthermore, images of cell preparations may be stored for future reference.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Göteborg University, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Björnheden
authors.forename: Bozena
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jakubowicz
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Levin
authors.forename: Birgitta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Odén
authors.forename: Staffan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Edén
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sjöström
authors.forename: Malin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lönn
mesh_terms: D017667:Adipocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002469:Cell Separation; D048429:Cell Size; D003201:Computers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D012984:Software; D014741:Video Recording