We have observed pigmented cytoplasmic granules, with the characteristic staining properties of lipofuscin (ceroid, "wear-and-tear") pigment, in newborn human liver. The pigment is found at the periphery of the lobule in hepatocytes and some bile ductular cells. It is acid-fast, PAS-positive after diastase digestion, slightly argyophilic and sudanophilic, and markedly Schmorl's- and peroxidase ...

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) is a subtropical fruit of high commercial value in international trade. However, litchi fruit after harvest can rapidly lose their bright red skin color and turn brown with increasing storage time at ambient temperature. Postharvest browning of litchi fruit is mainly attributed to the degradation of anthocyanins and the oxidation of phenolics. In this study, the ...

BACKGROUND Individuals with lower socioeconomic status experience higher rates of mortality and are more likely to suffer from numerous diseases. While some studies indicate that humans who suffer from social inequality suffer generally worse health, to our knowledge no controlled experiments of this nature have been done in any species. Lipofuscin is a highly oxidized cross-linked aggregate co...

Stargardt disease, also known as juvenile macular degeneration, occurs in approximately one in 10,000 people and results from genetic defects in the ABCA4 gene. The disease is characterized by premature accumulation of lipofuscin in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) of the eye and by vision loss. No cure or treatment is available. Although lipofuscin is considered a hallmark of Stargardt dis...

The accumulation of fluorescent age pigment or lipofuscin is a frequently observed age-associated cellular alteration in a variety of postmitotic cells of many species. These pigments are observed within granules composed, in part, of damaged protein and lipid. Modification of various biomolecules by aldehyde products of lipid peroxidation is believed to contribute to lipofuscin and ceroid form...

In the recent paper by Allingham et al., fundus autofluorescence (AF) was studied in relation to progression of geographic atrophy (GA) in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a subject of intense ongoing interest. The primary conclusion was that rim area focal hyperautofluorescence (RAFH) was positively correlated with GA progression rate (r 1⁄4 0.49, P < 0.001), consistent with Bearelly et...

PURPOSE To examine the accumulation and morphologic features of fluorescent inclusions in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells in vitro and to determine whether accumulation correlates with parameters of age. METHODS Cultured human RPE cells were maintained undisturbed at confluence for intervals as long as 2 years and then were examined for autofluorescent inclusions by fluorescence and el...

Light-related cycling of chemically reactive vitamin A aldehyde leads to the formation autofluorescent bis-retinoid pigments that accumulate as lipofuscin in retinal pigment epithelial cells. The amassing of these diretinoid compounds is implicated in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration and in some inherited forms of retinal degeneration. For all of these fluorophores, extended...

We combined photoacoustic ophthalmoscopy (PAOM) with autofluorescence imaging for simultaneous in vivo imaging of dual molecular contrasts in the retina using a single light source. The dual molecular contrasts come from melanin and lipofuscin in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Melanin and lipofuscin are two types of pigments and are believed to play opposite roles (protective versus exac...

The occurrence of fluorescent, pigmented inclusion bodies in muscle, nerve, and other non-dividing cell lines has been known since the turn of the century. These pigments, variously known as age pigments, lipofuscin, or abnutzungspig-mente (wear and tear pigments), have been subjected to numerous histochemical and histo-logical studies. Little has been firmly established, however, regarding the...