Insoluble Hard Material found in Human Atherosclerotic Aortas

Abstract

MANY authors^1–5 consider that the insoluble, fluorescent pigments originating from oxidized unsaturated lipids are primary or secondary factors in the onset and evolution of several diseases, and vitamin E deficiency in man and animals is frequently associated with ceroid pigment^1,5–8. In 1961, Geer et al.⁹ observed dense cytoplasmic inclusions in electron micrographs of atherosclerotic lesions and coronary endothelial cells. The inclusions had a dense core and showed knife striations; during processing they often shattered or dropped out of the section. Geer et al. suggested that these might be some form of hard material. Györkey et al.¹⁰ have observed crystalline structures similar to those to be described here in electron micrographs of ceroid isolated from human arteries.