Image pro premier

Previously, our laboratory measured mucosal surface area in vertical sections using a stereologic projection/cycloid method as described by Baddeley et al. [3 (link)] and was adapted by us to our model system [47 (link)]. The method does not require assumptions about the shape or orientation of the specimens and thus circumvents problems associated with most other procedures for surface area measurement. Using the same principle, we developed an automated software to measure intestinal mucosal surface area in vertical H&E–stained sections of the jejunum by using a computer-assisted image analysis program (Image-Pro Premier, Meyer Instruments Inc., Houston, TX, USA). All measurements were done with a 10× objective lens and a total of three to five areas were measured from each intestinal segment.

A decrease in the surface area of the intestinal mucosa is a sensitive parameter of small bowel radiation injury. Previously, we measured mucosal surface area in mice and rats using a stereologic projection/cycloid method [67 (link),68 (link)]. Because of structural differences in the intestine of NHPs (e.g., NHPs have plicae circulares whereas mice and rats do not), we chose computer-assisted Image-Pro^® Premier software (Meyer Instruments, Houston, TX, USA) to measure the length of intestinal mucosal surface area in this animal model. All measurements were done at 4X magnification in six to eight areas of intestinal segments. The average of the measurements from those 6–8 areas was used for statistical analyses.

We have previously measured mucosal surface area in mouse and rat intestines with a stereological projection/cycloid method [46 (link),47 (link)]. Due to structural differences in the intestine of NHPs (NHPs have plicae circulares, whereas mice and rats do not), we used computer-assisted Image-Pro^® Premier software (Meyer Instruments, Houston, TX, USA) to measure the length of intestinal mucosal surface area in the NHP model [29 (link)]. All measurements were performed at 4× magnification in six to eight areas of intestinal segments. The average of the measurements from those 6–8 areas were used as a single value for statistical analyses.