Electron microscopy of xanthomatosis - Morphogenesis of lipids

尽管在文献中进行了广泛讨论，但迄今为止尚未确定组织中脂质的结构，可能是因为大多数脂质在脱水过程中损失，甚至在使用常规包埋技术的组织处理的初始戊二醛阶段损失。我们研制了一种新的“阴极发光电子显微镜”装置，它几乎可以完全保存细胞内的胆固醇。对黄色瘤样病变进行常规石蜡切片和冰冻切片光学显微镜观察，并采用透射电镜、冷冻断裂电镜和阴极发光电镜进行常规电镜观察。此外，毛地黄皂苷和菲律宾甾醇探针被用于冷冻复型薄切片技术的超微结构细胞化学研究。目前的观察集中在细胞内的胆固醇在黄瘤的薄壁细胞的超微结构，并讨论认为黄瘤的起源与酯化胆固醇和游离胆固醇的形态发生。电子显微镜观察表明，薄壁细胞中的脂类物质成簇内化。游离胆固醇与酯化胆固醇的比例在个别薄壁细胞偏心变化的年龄的黄色瘤的增加。

Though widely discussed in the literatures, the structure of lipids in the tissues has not been established hitherto, presumably because most lipids are lost during dehydration and even during the initial glutaraldehyde phase of tissue processing if conventional embedding techniques are used. We developed a new apparatus of "cathodoluminescence electronmicroscope" which permitted almost complete preservation of intracellular cholesterols. The xanthomatous lesions were studied by routine optical microscopic examination of paraffin and cryostat sections and through conventional electron microscopic examination by transmission techniques, freeze-fracture techiques and cathodoluminescence electron microscope. In addition, sterol-probes of digitonin and filipin were used for an ultrastructural cytochemical study of freeze-replica thin section techniques. The present observations focus on the ultrastructure of intracellular cholesterols in the parenchyma cells of xanthoma, and the discussion considers the origin of the xanthoma together with the morphogenesis of the esterified cholesterol and free cholesterol. The electron micrographs revealed that the lipid materials in the parenchyma cells were internalized in clusters. The ratio of free to esterified cholesterol in the individual parenchyma cells eccentrically varied with the increase in the age of the xanthoma.