Table 2.
Estimates of cell numbers and ratios in the human spinal cord
| Isotropic Fractionator (IF) (cell types based on morphology) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Segment | Cell # ± SD million | range million | nN % | neuron % | nNNR ± SD | segment comparison | p-value | significant? | |
| Cervical (c) | 535.5 ± 98.9 | 424–615 | 86.5 | 13.5 | 7.2 ± 2.91 | c. vs. th. | 0.34 | n.s. | |
| Thoracic (th) | 670.3 ± 131.9 | 557–815 | 86.0 | 14.0 | 5.3 ± 1.03 | c. vs lu. | 0.87 | n.s. | |
| Lumbar (lu) | 457.9 ± 97.7 | 350–539 | 87.4 | 12.6 | 6.9 ± 0.60 | c. vs th.+lu. | 0.42 | n.s. | |
|
| |||||||||
| Total | 1,660 ± 251.8 | 1,400–1,900 | 86.6 | 13.4 | 6.5 ± 1.03 | ||||
|
| |||||||||
| Stereology | |||||||||
| Segment | Cell # ±SD million | range million | glia % | neuron % | endo % | GNR ± SD | segment comparison | p-value | significant? |
|
| |||||||||
| Cervical (c) | 479.6 ± 33.4 | 445–519 | 80.5 | 13.5 | 6.8 | 7.1 ± 2.94 | c. vs th. | 0.54 | n.s. |
| Thoracic (th) | 544.4 ± 57.9 | 486–602 | 72.6 | 14.0 | 13.4 | 5.7 ± 2.42 | c. vs lu. | 0.42 | n.s. |
| Lumbar (lu) | 445.4 ± 76.0 | 367–511 | 71.2 | 12.6 | 16.3 | 5.6 ± 0.47 | c. vs th.+lu. | 0.33 | n.s. |
|
| |||||||||
| Total | 1,469 ± 50.3 | 1,298–1,575 | 74.8 | 13.4 | 12.2 | 6.1 ± 0.86 | |||
Abbreviations: c, cervical; endo, endothelial cell; GNR, glia-neuron ratio; lu, lumbar; nN, non-neuronal cell; nNNR, non-neuron to neuron ratio; n.s., not significant; SD, standard deviation; th, thoracic.