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Lipofuscin is an insoluble lipid pigment present in cells of elderly persons and those with malnutrition or chronic wasting disease. It is a brown intracellular pigment found in hepatocytes, cardiocytes, and neurons. It represents the accumulation of indigestible membrane material in lysosomes after autophagy. Ingested material may accumulate when the rate of autophagy exceeds the capacity for digestion or when it has been chemically altered, as by lipid peroxidation, which would render it resistant to enzymatic degradation.
Organs containing large amounts of lipofuscin are deep brown in the heart, this is referred to as brown atrophy. This condition appears to correlate directly with age, however, since such pigment can also accumulate rapidly with extensive tissue wasting, one cannot attribute its presence strictly to aging.
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Introduction of Pathology An outline of Diagnostic Techniques available in Pathology Diagram showing Structural Changes in Reversible and Irreversible Cell Injury |