A simple technique for localizing consecutive fields for disector pairs in light microscopy: Application to neuron counting in rabbit spinal cord following spinal cord injury

• Published in: Journal of neuroscience methods Vol. 145; no. 1; pp. 277 - 284
• Main Authors: Kaplan, Süleyman, Gökyar, Ahmet, Ünal, Bünyami, Tunç, Ayten Türkkanı, Bahadır, Ayşe, Aslan, Hüseyin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 30.06.2005
• Subjects: Animals; Hypothermia; Injury; Methylprednisolone; Microscopy - instrumentation; Microscopy - methods; Neurons - pathology; Physical fractionator; Rabbits; Spinal cord; Spinal Cord Injuries - pathology; Stereology; Spinal cord; Stereology; Physical fractionator; Methylprednisolone; Injury; Hypothermia
• ISSN: 0165-0270; 1872-678X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2005.02.012

Locating the same microscopic fields in consecutive sections is important in stereological analysis. The tools for achieving this requirement have limited number in practice. This paper presents a simple and inexpensive technique for localizing the same fields on disector pairs in conventional light microscopes equipped with widely available dial indicators. It is partly a modification of equipment previously described. The presented procedure requires two light microscopes equipped with dial indicators and modified slide clips. An application of the present system was shown in a model of spinal cord injury (SCI). A midthoracic laminectomy was performed leaving the dura intact. A contusion was done at the level of midthoracic spinal cord segments (T7–T8) by dropping a 10-g mass from a height of 30 cm. The subjects were randomly divided into three groups (10 animals in each): hypothermia group, methylprednisolone group, and traumatic spinal cord injury alone group. Present results show that treatment with hypothermia after spinal cord trauma has a neuroprotective effect on cell damage but not in the methylprednisolone treatment group.