1980 Volume 54 Issue 7 Pages 211-218
Rats of four groups were fed vitamin E deficient or supplemented diets containing 5.6 or 15.6% linoleic acid for 100 days. The amounts of lipid peroxides in cardiac muscle were higher in rats fed vitamin E deficient diet containing 15.6% linoleic acid than that of E supplemented rats. In the vitamin E deficient rats. a large amount of PAS-positive lipofuscin granules occurred in the perinuclear region and periphery of muscle fibers. Two types of lipofuscin. large droplet-like form and small granular type, were observed in the cardiac muscle of rats fed vitamin E deficient diet containing 15.6% linoleic acid. The droplet form lipofuscin lying between mitochondria is considered to be formed by degeneration of mitochondria or degradation of lipid droplets. The granular type pigments were accumulated in the cisternae of sarcoplasmic reticulum. The disarrangement of myofilaments and indistinct Z bands were observed in some myofibrils lying close to the accumulation of lipofuscin. The mitochondria were hypertrophied with dense or swollen matrix. Acid phosphatase reaction products occurred in lysosomes lying in perinuclear zone and between mitochondria and in the cisternae of sarcoplasmic reticulum lying along the T systems. Peroxidase occurred in the microbodies between mitochondria and cristae of some enlarged mitochondria. The significance of these enzymes in formation of lipofuscin was discussed.
