Neuromuscular Disorders
Volume 20, Issue 8 , Pages 540-547, August 2010

Validation of an automated computational method for skeletal muscle fibre morphometry analysis

  • Fleur Garton

      Affiliations

    • These authors contributed equally to this work.
    • ,
  • Jane T. Seto

      Affiliations

    • These authors contributed equally to this work.
    • ,
  • Kathryn N. North
    • ,
  • Nan Yang

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Address: Institute for Neuroscience and Muscle Research, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Locked Bag 4001, Westmead, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia. Tel.: +61 2 9845 1453.

Institute for Neuroscience and Muscle Research, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia

Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

Received 19 February 2010; received in revised form 26 May 2010; accepted 7 June 2010.

Abstract 

Accurate and fast measurement of muscle fibre size and evaluation of fibre type proportions in large cross-sectional areas remains challenging as existing methods require extensive manual measurements. In this study, we assessed the fibre morphometry of ∼1000 fibres in mouse and human control and diseased muscle cross-sections. We compared fibre size, percentage fibre proportion and percentage fibre surface area results obtained by an automated method using MetaMorph® with those obtained manually using Image Pro. Data collection using MetaMorph® software was faster and produced similar results to those obtained using Image Pro. The ability to quickly and accurately measure large numbers of fibres with MetaMorph® allows the researcher to make a more precise assessment of fibre type and fibre size changes in human muscle biopsies and animal models of muscle disease.

Abbreviations: IHC, immunohistochemistry, IP, Image Pro, MM, MetaMorph®, SA, surface area

Keywords: Myosin heavy chain, Immunohistochemistry, Skeletal muscle fibre types, Fibre sizes

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PII: S0960-8966(10)00266-X

doi:10.1016/j.nmd.2010.06.012

Neuromuscular Disorders
Volume 20, Issue 8 , Pages 540-547, August 2010

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