title: Practical application of stereological methods in experimental kidney animal models.
abstract: The kidneys are vital organs responsible for excretion, fluid and electrolyte balance and hormone production. The nephrons are the kidney's functional and structural units. The number, size and distribution of the nephron components contain relevant information on renal function. Stereology is a branch of morphometry that applies mathematical principles to obtain three-dimensional information from serial, parallel and equidistant two-dimensional microscopic sections. Because of the complexity of stereological studies and the lack of scientific literature on the subject, the aim of this paper is to clearly explain, through animal models, the basic concepts of stereology and how to calculate the main kidney stereological parameters that can be applied in future experimental studies.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Histopatología Molecular en Modelos Animales de Cáncer, Instituto Universitario Oncológico del Principado de Asturias, Oviedo, Asturias, España. Electronic address: fernandezgarteresa@uniovi.es.
authors.forename: María Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Fernández García
authors.affiliation: Área de Fisiología, Departamento de Biología Funcional, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Asturias, España.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Núñez Martínez
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Histopatología Molecular en Modelos Animales de Cáncer, Instituto Universitario Oncológico del Principado de Asturias, Oviedo, Asturias, España.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: García de la Fuente
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Histopatología Molecular en Modelos Animales de Cáncer, Instituto Universitario Oncológico del Principado de Asturias, Oviedo, Asturias, España.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sánchez Pitiot
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Histopatología Molecular en Modelos Animales de Cáncer, Instituto Universitario Oncológico del Principado de Asturias, Oviedo, Asturias, España.
authors.forename: María Del Carmen
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Muñiz Salgueiro
authors.affiliation: Área de Fisiología, Departamento de Biología Funcional, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Asturias, España.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Perillán Méndez
authors.affiliation: Área de Fisiología, Departamento de Biología Funcional, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Asturias, España.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Argüelles Luis
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Histopatología Molecular en Modelos Animales de Cáncer, Instituto Universitario Oncológico del Principado de Asturias, Oviedo, Asturias, España; Servicio de Anatomía Patológica, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Asturias, España.
authors.forename: Aurora
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Astudillo González
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051379:Mice; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods; D023421:Models, Animal; D009399:Nephrons / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010784:Photomicrography
keywords: Densidad glomerular; Estereología renal; Glomerular density; Glomeruli; Glomérulos; Renal stereology