Spike R C, Payne A P, Moore M R
Department of Anatomy, Glasgow University, Scotland.
J Anat. 1988 Oct;160:157-66.
The effects of age on structure and porphyrin synthesis were examined in the Harderian gland of the female golden hamster. An age range of 2-24 months was examined. Porphyrin enzyme activity reached a peak at 6 months and then declined; the porphyrin content of the gland (as determined both by biochemical assay and by the number of visible porphyrin accretions) also declined from 6 months. Mast cells, found in large numbers in the actively synthesising female gland, declined with age. Conversely, tubule epithelial cells with large lipid vacuoles (Type II cells--characteristic of the non-synthesising male gland) increased in frequency. There was considerable evidence of degenerative changes in gland structure with age. These included thinning of the tubule walls, invasion of the tubule lumen by neutrophils and the appearance of porphyrin stores within the interstitium of the gland. The latter were either large accretions surrounded by foreign body giant cells, or smaller deposits within individual free macrophages. Changes may be the result of ageing itself, of hormone insufficiency in post-reproductive senescence or inflammatory processes.
在雌性金黄仓鼠的哈德氏腺中研究了年龄对其结构和卟啉合成的影响。研究的年龄范围为2至24个月。卟啉酶活性在6个月时达到峰值，然后下降；腺体的卟啉含量（通过生化分析和可见卟啉沉积物数量确定）也从6个月开始下降。在活跃合成的雌性腺体中大量存在的肥大细胞随年龄减少。相反，具有大脂质空泡的小管上皮细胞（II型细胞——非合成雄性腺体的特征）频率增加。有大量证据表明腺体结构随年龄出现退行性变化。这些变化包括小管壁变薄、中性粒细胞侵入小管腔以及在腺体间质内出现卟啉储存。后者要么是被异物巨细胞包围的大沉积物，要么是单个游离巨噬细胞内的较小沉积物。这些变化可能是衰老本身、生殖后期衰老中的激素不足或炎症过程的结果。
