Deficiencies of vitamins E and A in the rat: lipofuscin accumulation in the choroid

The effects of vitamin E and A deficiencies on the formation of lipofuscin in the melanocytes and fibroblasts of the choroidal stroma and in the endothelial cells of the choriocapillaris were studied. Weanling female albino rats (Sprague-Dawley) were divided into three groups and fed purified diets adequate or deficient in vitamins E and A: +E, +A; -E, -A. After 35 weeks, vitamin E deficient rats (-E, +A) exhibited increased lipofuscin-specific autofluorescence in the choroid compared to the controls (+E, +A). By electron microscopy and morphometric methods the choroidal stroma of vitamin E deficient rats displayed an increase in lipofuscin content as measured by the number of lipofuscin granules and their size, if compared with the controls. However, in vitamin E deficiency, only animals with a supply of vitamin A (-E, +A) showed higher amounts of lipofuscin in the choroidal stroma; animals deficient in both vitamins (-E, -A) stayed on the same level as the controls (+E, +A). In the endothelial cells of the choriocapillaris, on the other hand, no significant increases in lipofuscin content were observed in either group of vitamin E deficient animals (-E, +A), (-E, -A). Apparently vitamin E deficiency affects the choroid by increasing lipofuscin formation only in the melanocytes and fibroblasts. Vitamin A appears to play a role in lipofuscin formation.