title: A simple technique for localizing consecutive fields for disector pairs in light microscopy: application to neuron counting in rabbit spinal cord following spinal cord injury.
abstract: Locating the same microscopic fields in consecutive sections is important in stereological analysis. The tools for achieving this requirement have limited number in practice. This paper presents a simple and inexpensive technique for localizing the same fields on disector pairs in conventional light microscopes equipped with widely available dial indicators. It is partly a modification of equipment previously described. The presented procedure requires two light microscopes equipped with dial indicators and modified slide clips. An application of the present system was shown in a model of spinal cord injury (SCI). A midthoracic laminectomy was performed leaving the dura intact. A contusion was done at the level of midthoracic spinal cord segments (T7-T8) by dropping a 10-g mass from a height of 30 cm. The subjects were randomly divided into three groups (10 animals in each): hypothermia group, methylprednisolone group, and traumatic spinal cord injury alone group. Present results show that treatment with hypothermia after spinal cord trauma has a neuroprotective effect on cell damage but not in the methylprednisolone treatment group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology, Ondokuz Mayis University School of Medicine, TR-55139 Samsun, Turkey. skaplan@omu.edu.tr
authors.forename: Süleyman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gökyar
authors.forename: Bünyami
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Unal
authors.forename: Ayten Türkkani
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Tunç
authors.forename: Ayşe
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bahadir
authors.forename: Hüseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aslan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008853:Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology*; D011817:Rabbits; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000473:pathology*