[Limits and problems in structural and functional analyses in biomedicine by means of correlation of...

Several examples of correlated stereological and biochemical investigations of the inner membrane of rat liver mitochondria under different physiological and pathological conditions are presented and critically discussed. In the case of liver lobuli a good quantitative correlation between morphological substrate (cristae or inner boundary membrane) and biochemical substrate (succinate dehydrogenase or glycerol phosphate dehydrogenase respectively) was demonstrated. The situation was more complex when cristae biogenesis was induced by low doses of thyroid hormone for up to 15 days. There was not always a good correlation between membrane biogenesis measured by electron microscopy and the corresponding biochemical parameter. Cardiolipin seemed to be a good parameter reflecting both membrane growth and reduction. The usefulness of a correlated stereological and biochemical work is demonstrated in a diagram showing 7 different biological explanations for a biochemically measured increase of a membrane-bound enzyme. One can conclude that correlations between results of quantitative electron microscopy by stereological means and biochemical results are possible. The correlations do not always occur in a quantitative way. This is especially the case when drastic physiological or pathological alterations are investigated. However, under stable metabolic conditions one can find quantitative correlations.