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Analysis of sampling errors in biopsy techniques using data from whole muscle cross sections

Lexell, Jan LU ; Taylor, C and Sjöstrom, M (1985) In Journal of Applied Physiology 59(4). p.1228-1235
Abstract
Because of the large variability in the proportion of fiber types within a whole muscle, a single biopsy is a poor estimator of the fiber type proportion for a whole muscle. Data on the proportions of type I and II fibers, obtained from cross sections of whole human muscles (vastus lateralis) from young male individuals, have therefore been analyzed statistically in order to determine the sampling errors involved in muscle biopsy techniques. For the purpose of obtaining a good estimate of the fiber type proportion in a whole biopsy, counting all fibers is of great benefit compared with counting only half of the fiber number. The required number of biopsies to obtain a given sampling error of the mean proportion of fiber types in the whole... (More)
Because of the large variability in the proportion of fiber types within a whole muscle, a single biopsy is a poor estimator of the fiber type proportion for a whole muscle. Data on the proportions of type I and II fibers, obtained from cross sections of whole human muscles (vastus lateralis) from young male individuals, have therefore been analyzed statistically in order to determine the sampling errors involved in muscle biopsy techniques. For the purpose of obtaining a good estimate of the fiber type proportion in a whole biopsy, counting all fibers is of great benefit compared with counting only half of the fiber number. The required number of biopsies to obtain a given sampling error of the mean proportion of fiber types in the whole muscle can vary by a factor of six. If less than three biopsies are taken from a muscle, there is a substantial reduction in sampling error taking biopsies with at least 600 fibers. For more than three biopsies there is a small gain in sampling greater than 150 fibers. The precision of the estimate of the mean proportion of fiber types for a group is increased with the number of biopsies per individual and number of individuals. In conclusion, for the muscle in this study, complete counting of three biopsies, each greater than 150 fibers, sampled from different depths of the muscle is recommended. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Applied Physiology
volume
59
issue
4
pages
1228 - 1235
publisher
American Physiological Society
external identifiers
  • pmid:4055601
  • scopus:0022388973
ISSN
1522-1601
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e4d77e67-c654-444c-8e91-82aca12297d7 (old id 1103445)
alternative location
http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/reprint/59/4/1228
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:15:17
date last changed
2021-07-18 04:04:50
@article{e4d77e67-c654-444c-8e91-82aca12297d7,
  abstract     = {{Because of the large variability in the proportion of fiber types within a whole muscle, a single biopsy is a poor estimator of the fiber type proportion for a whole muscle. Data on the proportions of type I and II fibers, obtained from cross sections of whole human muscles (vastus lateralis) from young male individuals, have therefore been analyzed statistically in order to determine the sampling errors involved in muscle biopsy techniques. For the purpose of obtaining a good estimate of the fiber type proportion in a whole biopsy, counting all fibers is of great benefit compared with counting only half of the fiber number. The required number of biopsies to obtain a given sampling error of the mean proportion of fiber types in the whole muscle can vary by a factor of six. If less than three biopsies are taken from a muscle, there is a substantial reduction in sampling error taking biopsies with at least 600 fibers. For more than three biopsies there is a small gain in sampling greater than 150 fibers. The precision of the estimate of the mean proportion of fiber types for a group is increased with the number of biopsies per individual and number of individuals. In conclusion, for the muscle in this study, complete counting of three biopsies, each greater than 150 fibers, sampled from different depths of the muscle is recommended.}},
  author       = {{Lexell, Jan and Taylor, C and Sjöstrom, M}},
  issn         = {{1522-1601}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{1228--1235}},
  publisher    = {{American Physiological Society}},
  series       = {{Journal of Applied Physiology}},
  title        = {{Analysis of sampling errors in biopsy techniques using data from whole muscle cross sections}},
  url          = {{http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/reprint/59/4/1228}},
  volume       = {{59}},
  year         = {{1985}},
}