[Fat of the subcutaneous adipose tissue in spontaneous panniculitisi (Weber-Christian disease)].

Histochemical investigations of fat in nodes of lesions of the subcutaneous fatty tissue in 25 patients with spontaneous panniculitis were carried out. It was shown that the disease was not accompanied by accumulation in the subcutaneous fatty tissue of such lipids as cholesterol, phosphoglycerides or glycolipids. Changes in triglycerides with formation of fatty acids were observed in fatty cells already in the presence of a developed cellular reaction in the subcutaneous fatty tissue and apparently could not be considered as a trigger mechanism in pathogenesis of spontaneous panniculitis. The revealing of aldehydes and lipids in fatty cells and in lipophages may indicate to an oxidative character of the processes developing in fat in spontaneous panniculitis. A suggestion is put forward that in pathogenesis of panniculitis a certain role could be played by an impairment of oxidation processes of fat with excessive accumulation of peroxides of lipids.