Video Scanning for Determination of the Proportion of Cortical Tissue in the Avian Adrenal Gland

Abstract

The use of a video scanning apparatus (Leitz, T.A.S.) for the determination of the corticomedullary proportion in histological sections of the avian adrenal gland is described and statistically evaluated. When the video scanning method was applied to material from groups of domestic hens, which had been exposed to different experimental conditions, the results were similar to those obtained through the integrating method as described by Siller et al. (1975). The mean values obtained by both methods did not differ significantly, and there was a highly significant correlation between the counts for both methods applied on the same sections. When applying the video scanning method to 16 sections from four adrenals, repeated measurements on each of the sections showed considerable variation. However, this variation was found to be significantly smaller than the variation among the sections. It is suggested that the video scanning method could be made more precise by improvement of the staining procedure. However, on relatively large samples it seems to give reliable results, and it has a great advantage in reducing the tedious work involved in other available methods.

Sammendrag

Artiklen beskriver, hvorledes et video scanning-apparat til automatisk billedanalyse (Leitz, T.A.S.) kan benyttes ved bestemmelse af proportionen af barkvaev i histologiske snit af fuglebinyrer. Metoden blev anvendt på et materiale fra grupper af tamhøner, der havde vaeret udsat for forskellige forsøgsbehandlinger, og resultaterne viste overensstemmelse med de, der kunne opnås ved integrationsmetoden beskrevet af Siller et al. (1975). Gennemsnitsvaerdierne, der opnåedes ved de 2 metoder, var ikke signifikant forskellige, og der var en meget signifikant korrelation mellem talvaerdier opnået ved begge metoder på de samme histologiske snit. Forsøg, hvor video scanning-metoden blev anvendt på 16 forskellige snit fra 4 forskellige binyrer, viste, at gentagne målinger på hvert af snittene gav betydelig variation i de opnåede talvserdier. Denne variation var dog signifikant mindre end variationen mellem de forskellige snit. Den beskrevne video scanning-metode kan formentlig gøres mere praecis ved forbedring af den anvendte farveteknik. Allerede nu kan den imidlertid, anvendt på et relativt stort materiale, give pålidelige resultater, ligesom den er hurtig og arbejdsbesparende sammenlignet med andre metoder.