The 2-D stereology can be used advantageously in the case of muscle cross sections stained by routine histochemical and immunocytochemical methods, such as mATPase reaction, when the quality of the image is often not sufficient for using image analysis techniques without considerable individual intervention. Other advantages of stereological methods in muscle morphometry are that measurements are made directly on specimens under the microscope and in their simplest arrangement they do not require sophisticated and expensive technical equipment. Furthermore, unbiased results are obtained, no segmentation and edge effect problems arise and the quantity of work invested in stereological estimation is reasonable. Therefore, we have used the stereological methods as our standard technique for assessment of fibre type composition in regenerated soleus muscles grafted from 21- to 28-day-old rats into fast EDL muscles of adult inbred recipients with different plasma levels of thyroid hormones.

Institute of Physiology Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic Prague

Slow to fast muscle transformation following heterochronous isotransplantation is influenced by host thyroid hormone status