Histology and Histomorphometric Analysis of the Normal and Atrophic Heel Fat Pad

1995 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 254-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Buschmann ◽  
Melvin H. Jahss ◽  
Frederick Kummer ◽  
Panna Desai ◽  
Russell O. Gee ◽  
...  

Light and electron microscopy was used for a histologic examination of normal heel fat pads and atrophic heel fat pads from patients with peripheral neuropathies. Histomorphometric analysis revealed an average 30% smaller mean cell area and 16% smaller mean cell diameters in the atrophic pads compared with the normal heel fat pads. Septal walls in the atrophic fat pads were often fragmented and approximately 75% wider than normal. Perineural fibrosis was also found in the atrophic heel fat pads. The Verhoeff elastic staining technique was used to determine the relative percentage of collagen to elastic tissue within the septae. No significant differences were noted between the normal and atrophic heels. The ultrastructure of the adipocytes from the normal and atrophic heel pads was similar to those found in abdominal subcutaneous fat. Lipid droplets of variable size and density within the center of the adipocyte were surrounded by a thin border of cytoplasm. The interphase between adipocytes contained fine collagen and elastic fibers.

Author(s):  
C.W. Kischer ◽  
A.J. Arem

Cutaneous striae are believed to occur in glucocorticoid-stimulated skin and have been morphologically identified with a rupture of thick elastic fibers and a straightening of collagen bundles.The fact that striae are usually flattened or depressed areas would tend to suggest they are not true closed dermal wounds and would be metaboli- cally inactive. To examine this possibility we have analyzed striae by light and electron microscopy and by preliminary biochemical assays. Striae were removed from a skin wedge taken from a 45 year old woman undergoing an abdominal lipectomy. The age of the striae was probably several years. The tissues to be studied morphologically were fixed in Karnovsky's fluid while those reserved for biochemical assay were either used fresh or frozen.The striae portion was excised from adjacent clinically-normal skin and data from each area was compared.No apparent reduction of elastic tissue occurs throughout the breadth or depth of the stria area.


Author(s):  
E. N. Albert

Silver tetraphenylporphine sulfonate (Ag-TPPS) was synthesized in this laboratory and used as an electron dense stain for elastic tissue (Fig 1). The procedures for the synthesis of tetraphenylporphine sulfonate and the staining method for mature elastic tissue have been described previously.The fine structure of developing elastic tissue was observed in fetal and new born rat aorta using tetraphenylporphine sulfonate, phosphotungstic acid, uranyl acetate and lead citrate. The newly forming elastica consisted of two morphologically distinct components. These were a central amorphous and a peripheral fibrous. The ratio of the central amorphous and the peripheral fibrillar portion changed in favor of the former with increasing age.It was also observed that the staining properties of the two components were entirely different. The peripheral fibrous component stained with uranyl acetate and/or lead citrate while the central amorphous portion demonstrated no affinity for these stains. On the other hand, the central amorphous portion of developing elastic fibers stained vigorously with silver tetraphenylporphine sulfonate, while the fibrillar part did not (compare figs 2, 3, 4). Based upon the above observations it is proposed that developing elastica consists of two components that are morphologically and chemically different.


Author(s):  
Leslie Baumann ◽  
Eric F Bernstein ◽  
Anthony S Weiss ◽  
Damien Bates ◽  
Shannon Humphrey ◽  
...  

Abstract Elastin is the main component of elastic fibers, which provide stretch, recoil, and elasticity to the skin. Normal levels of elastic fiber production, organization, and integration with other cutaneous extracellular matrix proteins, proteoglycans, and glycosaminoglycans are integral to maintaining healthy skin structure, function, and youthful appearance. Although elastin has very low turnover, its production decreases after individuals reach maturity and it is susceptible to damage from many factors. With advancing age and exposure to environmental insults, elastic fibers degrade. This degradation contributes to the loss of the skin’s structural integrity; combined with subcutaneous fat loss, this results in looser, sagging skin, causing undesirable changes in appearance. The most dramatic changes occur in chronically sun-exposed skin, which displays sharply altered amounts and arrangements of cutaneous elastic fibers, decreased fine elastic fibers in the superficial dermis connecting to the epidermis, and replacement of the normal collagen-rich superficial dermis with abnormal clumps of solar elastosis material. Disruption of elastic fiber networks also leads to undesirable characteristics in wound healing, and the worsening structure and appearance of scars and stretch marks. Identifying ways to replenish elastin and elastic fibers should improve the skin’s appearance, texture, resiliency, and wound-healing capabilities. However, few therapies are capable of repairing elastic fibers or substantially reorganizing the elastin/microfibril network. This review describes the clinical relevance of elastin in the context of the structure and function of healthy and aging skin, wound healing, and scars and introduces new approaches being developed to target elastin production and elastic fiber formation.


1972 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 1006-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEX B. NOVIKOFF ◽  
PHYLLIS M. NOVIKOFF ◽  
CLEVELAND DAVIS ◽  
NELSON QUINTANA

A modification of the Novikoff-Goldfischer alkaline 3,3'-diaminobenzidine medium for visualizing peroxisomes is described. It makes possible light microscopic as well as electron microscopic studies of a recently described class of peroxisomes, the microperoxisomes. Potassium cyanide (5 x 10–3 M) is included in the medium to inhibit mitochondrial staining, the pH is 9.7 and there is a high concentration of H2O2 (0.05%). Two cell types have been chosen to illustrate the advantages of the new procedure for demonstrating the microperoxisomes: the absorptive cells in the human jejunum and the distal tubule cells in the guinea pig kidney. Suggestive relations of microperoxisomes and lipid are described in the human jejunum. The microperoxisomes are strategically located between smooth endoplasmic reticulum that radiates toward the organelles and contains lipid droplets and "central domains" of highly specialized endoplasmic reticulum which do not show the lipid droplets. The microperoxisomes are also present at the periphery of large lipid-like drops. In the guinea pig kidney tubule there is a striking difference between the thick limb of Henle and distal tubule. The distal tubule has a population of cells with large numbers of microperoxisomes readily visible by light microscopy; these cells are not present in the thick limb of Henle. Other differences between the two are also described.


1995 ◽  
Vol 268 (3) ◽  
pp. R744-R751 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. G. Youngstrom ◽  
T. J. Bartness

When Siberian hamsters are transferred from long summerlike days (LDs) to short winterlike days (SDs) they decrease their body weight, primarily as body fat. These SD-induced decreases in lipid stores are not uniform. Internally located white adipose tissue (WAT) pads are depleted preferentially of lipid, whereas the more externally located subcutaneous WAT pads are relatively spared. These data suggest a possible differential sympathetic neural control over catecholamine-induced lipolysis and that lipolytic rates are greater for internal vs. external WAT pads. Moreover, if these differential rates of lipolysis are due to differential sympathetic nervous system (SNS) drives on the pads, then fat pad-specific catecholaminergic innervation may exist. Therefore, we tested whether inguinal WAT (IWAT; an external pad) and epididymal WAT (EWAT; an internal pad) were innervated differentially. In addition, we tested whether norepinephrine (NE) turnover (TO) reflected the presumed greater SNS drive on EWAT vs. IWAT after SD exposure. Injections of fluorescent tract tracers [Fluoro-Gold or indocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI)] demonstrated projections from the SNS ganglia T13-L3 to both fat pads. Retrograde labeling revealed a relatively separate pattern of distribution of labeled neurons in the ganglia projecting to each pad. In vivo anterograde transport of DiI resulted in labeling in both IWAT and EWAT that included staining around individual adipocytes and occasionally retrogradely labeled cells. The proportionately greater decrease in EWAT compared with IWAT mass after 5 wk of SD exposure was reflected in greater EWAT NE TO than found in their LD counterparts for this pad.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


1962 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 547-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Carton ◽  
John Dainauskas ◽  
John W. Clark

The elastic properties of elastic tissue were studied in a situation which minimized the effects of extraneous connective tissue and of the position of fibers in the elastic network. Single elastic fibers were dissected free from the ligamentum nuchae of the ox and were stretched under conditions of constant temperature and salinity. The strain was an exponential function of the applied tension. Single fibers were found somewhat less stretchable than the ligaments from which they were taken. The data given can be used to calculate the contribution of such elastic fibers to the behavior of an elastic system in which they are incorporated. Submitted on August 7, 1961


2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rogério De Oliveira Gonçalves ◽  
Evandro De Moraes e Silva ◽  
Gaspar De Jesus Lopes Filho

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the role of fibrillar extracellular matrix components in the pathogenesis of inguinal hernias. METHODS: samples of the transverse fascia and of the anterior sheath of the rectus abdominis muscle were collected from 40 men aged between 20 and 60 years with type II and IIIA Nyhus inguinal hernia and from 10 fresh male cadavers (controls) without hernia in the same age range. The staining technique was immunohistochemistry for collagen I, collagen III and elastic fibers; quantification of fibrillar components was performed with an image analysis processing software. RESULTS: no statistically significant differences were found in the amount of elastic fibers, collagen I and collagen III, and the ratio of collagen I / III among patients with inguinal hernia when compared with subjects without hernia. CONCLUSION: the amount of fibrillar extracellular matrix components did not change in patients with and without inguinal hernia.


2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sushma Kaul ◽  
Elisa Maruko ◽  
Hao Xu ◽  
Mete Civelek ◽  
Craig Glastonbury ◽  
...  

Procollagen C-endopeptidase enhancer protein 2 (PCPE2) modulates selective HDL cholesterol ester uptake by SR-BI. Ldlr-/-,Pcpe2-/- mice develop greater aortic atherosclerosis despite increased concentrations of enlarged plasma HDL, suggesting PCPE2 confers functionality to HDL for reverse cholesterol transport. PCPE2 is a 52 kDa glycoprotein encoded by PCOLCE2 gene most highly expressed in adipose tissue, heart and aorta. PCPE2 has 2 CUB domains separated by a short linker, with each CUB domain containing a beta-sandwich fold, mediating a variety of protein-protein interactions. PCPE2 also contains a C-terminal netrin-like domain that binds tightly to cell surface glycosaminoglycans accounting for its location in the extracellular matrix. Because of the strong inverse correlation between HDL and triglyceride levels, and the potential role of SR-BI in triglyceride-rich lipoprotein uptake we examined Ldlr-/-,Pcpe2-/-mice fed a Western diet for 25 weeks. Ldlr-/-,Pcpe2-/- mice showed 1.7 fold increase in plasma triglyceride concentrations when compared to age and gender matched Ldlr-/- mice. We also noted that despite similar body weights, Ldlr-/-,Pcpe2-/- visceral fat pad weight was reduced 60% (p<0.001, n=9 per genotype) compared to Ldlr-/- mice, while subcutaneous fat pad weight was not significantly different. This maldistribution of adipose in Ldlr-/-,Pcpe2-/- was associated with increased fasting plasma glucose levels, elevated 25% (p<0.02) over Ldlr-/- mice. In humans, analyses showed significant correlations of subcutaneous fat PCPE2 RNA expression with DEXA traits from the TwinsUK cohort; % android fat (p<0.0002), % trunk fat (p<0.0001) and % gynoid fat (p<0.04). Additional correlations between PCPE2 mRNA abundance and candidate marker expression will also be presented using 53 human visceral fat samples. Overall these data suggest that PCPE2 plays an important role in regional fat deposition linking SR-BI mediated cholesterol ester uptake to adipose cell biology.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hung-Chin Chen ◽  
Chao-Jan Wang ◽  
Yu-Lun Lo ◽  
Hao-Chun Hsu ◽  
Chung-Guei Huang ◽  
...  

AbstractThe aim of this study was to assess associations between fat pad areas at various anatomic levels and the sites of lateral wall collapse and disease severity in adult patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Forty-one patients with OSA who prospectively underwent drug-induced sleep computed tomography were included. Areas of parapharyngeal fat pads and degrees of lateral wall collapse at three representative anatomic levels (nasopharynx, oropharynx, and subglosso-supraglottis), and apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) were measured. In the subglosso-supraglottic region, the parapharyngeal fat pad area in 17 (41%) patients with complete lateral wall collapse was significantly larger than that in 24 (59%) patients without complete collapse (median, 236.0 mm2 vs 153.0 mm2; P = 0.02). In multivariate regression analysis, the parapharyngeal fat pad area at the subglosso-supraglottic level (β = 0.02; P = 0.01) and body mass index (β = 3.24; P = 0.01) were independently associated with AHI. Our preliminary results supported that parapharyngeal fat pads at the subglosso-supraglottic level may be involved in the development of lateral wall collapse and then determine the severity of OSA. Further studies are warranted to investigate the effect of reducing parapharyngeal fat pads in the treatment of OSA.


Antioxidants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Shih ◽  
Yonghong Meng ◽  
Tamer Sallam ◽  
Laurent Vergnes ◽  
Michelle Shu ◽  
...  

(1) Background: Paraoxonase 2 (PON2) is a ubiquitously expressed protein localized to endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. Previous studies have shown that PON2 exhibits anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory functions, and PON2-deficient (PON2-def) mice are more susceptible to atherosclerosis. Furthermore, PON2 deficiency leads to impaired mitochondrial function. (2) Methods: In this study, we examined the susceptibility of PON2-def mice to diet-induced obesity. (3) Results: After feeding of an obesifying diet, the PON2-def mice exhibited significantly increased body weight due to increased fat mass weight as compared to the wild-type (WT) mice. The increased adiposity was due, in part, to increased adipocyte hypertrophy. PON2-def mice had increased fasting insulin levels and impaired glucose tolerance after diet-induced obesity. PON2-def mice had decreased oxygen consumption and energy expenditure. Furthermore, the oxygen consumption rate of subcutaneous fat pads from PON2-def mice was lower compared to WT mice. Gene expression analysis of the subcutaneous fat pads revealed decreased expression levels of markers for beige adipocytes in PON2-def mice. (4) Conclusions: We concluded that altered systemic energy balance, perhaps due to decreased beige adipocytes and mitochondrial dysfunction in white adipose tissue of PON2-def mice, leads to increased obesity in these mice.


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