title: First and second order stereology of hyaline cartilage: Application on mice femoral cartilage.
abstract: Stereological techniques could be considered in research on cartilage to obtain quantitative data. The present study aimed to explain application of the first- and second-order stereological methods on articular cartilage of mice and the methods applied on the mice exposed to cadmium (Cd). The distal femoral articular cartilage of BALB/c mice (control and Cd-treated) was removed. Then, volume and surface area of the cartilage and number of chondrocytes were estimated using Cavalieri and optical dissector techniques on isotropic uniform random sections. Pair-correlation function [g(r)] and cross-correlation function were calculated to express the spatial arrangement of chondrocytes-chondrocytes and chondrocytes-matrix (chondrocyte clustering/dispersing), respectively. The mean±standard deviation of the cartilage volume, surface area, and thickness were 1.4±0.1mm3, 26.2±5.4mm2, and 52.8±6.7μm, respectively. Besides, the mean number of chondrocytes was 680±200 (×103). The cartilage volume, cartilage surface area, and number of chondrocytes were respectively reduced by 25%, 27%, and 27% in the Cd-treated mice in comparison to the control animals (p<0.03). Estimates of g(r) for the cells and matrix against the dipole distances, r, have been plotted. This plot showed that the chondrocytes and the matrix were neither dispersed nor clustered in the two study groups. Application of design-based stereological methods and also evaluation of spatial arrangement of the cartilage components carried potential advantages for investigating the cartilage in different joint conditions. Chondrocyte clustering/dispersing and cellularity can be evaluated in cartilage assessment in normal or abnormal situations.
authors: Histomorphometry and Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors: Ali
authors: A
authors: Noorafshan
authors: Histomorphometry and Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors: Behnam
authors: B
authors: Niazi
authors: Histomorphometry and Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors: Masoomeh
authors: M
authors: Mohamadpour
authors: Histomorphometry and Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors: Leila
authors: L
authors: Hoseini
authors: Histomorphometry and Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors: Najmeh
authors: N
authors: Hoseini
authors: Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors: Ali Akbar
authors: AA
authors: Owji
authors: Histomorphometry and Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors: Ali
authors: A
authors: Rafati
authors: Histomorphometry and Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors: Yasaman
authors: Y
authors: Sadeghi
authors: Histomorphometry and Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. Electronic address: karbalas@sums.ac.ir.
authors: Saied
authors: S
authors: Karbalay-Doust
mesh_terms: D019412:Anatomy, Cross-Sectional; D000818:Animals; D002104:Cadmium / Q000633:toxicity*; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D005269:Femur / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D051457:Hyaline Cartilage / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D002104:Cadmium
keywords: Cartilage; Chondrocytes; Mice; Quantitative; Spatial arrangement; Stereology