Unbiased stereological estimation of cell number,average volume of neuronal cells in 4 months old male C57/6J mice hippocampus

Objective To get unbiased estimation of pyramidal cell number,average pyramidal cell volume of pyramidal layers of both CA1CA3 subregions;and to get unbiased estimation of granular cell number,average granular cell volume of granular layer of dentate gyrus subregion.Methods We used Optical Disector and Fractionator for cell counting,Nucleator for average cell volume,and Cavalieri methods for volume of pyramidal layers of both CA1CA3 subregions and granular layer of dentate gyrus subregion.Results The volume of pyramidal layer of CA1 was(577.6±45.15)×106 μm3、pyramidal cell number of pyramidal layer in CA1 subregion was(179.0±9.64)×103、the average pyramidal cell volume of CA1 was(1344.4±175.69)μm3;The volume of pyramidal layer of CA3 was(471.1±29.01) ×106 μm3,the pyramidal cell number of pyramidal layer in CA3 subregion was(139.8±5.91)×103,the average pyramidal cell volume of CA3 was(1458.5±138.94)μm3;The volume of granular cell layer in dentate gyrus subregion was(467.4±18.74) ×106 μm3,the granular cell number of granular cell layer in dentate gyrus subregion was(316.5±14.4)×103,the average granular cell volume of dentate gyrus subregion was(449.0±36.43)μm3.Conclusion: we estimated neuronal number and average cell volume of 4 months old C57BL/6J mice hippocampus unbiasedly using advanced stereologic system and provided suggestion and tips for further research.