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- Volume 13 (1994)
- Number 1 - Proceedings of the sixth European congr...
- Absolute volumes of glomerular cells and glomerular compartments in the normal rat kidney
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Absolute volumes of glomerular cells and glomerular compartments in the normal rat kidney
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Abstract
Alterations in the size of renal glomeruli, in the number and size of glomerular cells, and in the size of the major glomerular compartments (matrix, capillary lumina, urinary space) occur in various renal disorders. We have previously used unbiased stereological methods to estimate glomerular size and the total number of glomeruli and individual glomerular cell types in the kidneys of seven normal female Sprague-Dawley rats. In the present study we combined the earlier data with volume density estimates obtained using traditional point counting methods at the electron microscopic level to estimate the average volumes of individual glomerular cell types and of the major glomerular compartments. Surface density estimates of the plasma membrane of glomerular epithelial cells (GECs) were used to estimate average GEC surface area. To estimate volume and surface densities, one thin section from each of six randomly selected renal corpuscles was analyzed from each rat. Each section provided approximately 20 electron micrographs (final magnification x23,500). Estimates were: renal corpuscle volume 8.588 ± 1.084 µm3 x 105 (mean ± SD), GEC volume 584 ± 105 µm3, endothelial cell volume 151 ± 39 µm3, mesangial cell volume 149 ± 31 µm3, parietal epithelial cell volume 182 ± 49 µm3, matrix volume 3.841 ± 0.604 µm3 x 104, capillary lumina volume 2.664 ± 0.378 µm3 x 105, urinary space volume 3.467 ± 509 µm3 x 105, and GEC surface area 5.211 ± 0.967 µm2 x 103. This study has provided baseline data for the volumes of individual glomerular cells and the major glomerular compartments. This data will be useful in identifying changes in glomerular dimensions in disease.