Monitoring age-related changes of collagen content and vascularity in ganglia using unbiased stereological methods

We describe for the first time application of unbiased stereological techni ques to estimate total volume and volume fractions of interest in individua l dorsal root ganglia (DRG). Volume estimates were obtained using a two-sta ge sampling design. Sections were systematically sampled following a random start, from DRG which were embedded in methacrylate and exhaustively secti oned. We further examined the efficiency of point counting irregular volume fractions housed in a regular reference volume. We found that the precisio n of volume estimates was relatively unaffected by exhaustive sampling, and that the magnitude of error was, in large part, determined by object shape .