The volumes of rat and human lung cells as measured by an image analyser

Previous studies of the morphometry of lung cells have required long and tedious measurements involving serial sectioning and the reconstruction of models. However the advent of computer-based image analysers offers a more straightforward, although less direct, method of making such measurements. In the present study a Magiscan has been used to investigate the shapes and sizes of the nuclei from the lung cells of three mammalian species. Associated cellular volumes have also been derived. Based on the measurements of about two hundred cells the mean volumes of rat, beagle and human lung cell nuclei were estimated to be 67 microns 3, 41 microns 3 and 78 microns 3 respectively. Cell volumes were estimated to be about 500 microns 3. It was also confirmed that a sphere is a very poor approximation for the shape of a nucleus, spheroids representing the observations much more closely.