Lysosomes of the arterial wall. IV. Cytochemical localization of acid phosphatase and catalase in smooth muscle cells and foam cells from rabbit atheromatous aorta.

Cytochemical methods for acid phosphatase and catalase were applied to atheromatous aortas from cholesterol-fed rabbits. Whole tissue, partially digested aortic slices and isolated cells were used for the study. Present in the atheromatous lesions were smooth muscle cells in all stages of foamy transformation, from virtually normal appearing smooth muscle cells to severely altered cells with pronounced lipid accumulation. The results with the acid phosphatase method show that lysosomes increase both in size and in number as the smooth muscle cells become foam cells. In normal appearing smooth muscle cells, acid phosphatase reaction product was found in stacked cisternae of the Golgi apparatus and in small vesicles located in the Golgi region and distributed throughout the cytoplasm. In foam cells, reaction product was found in membrane-limited vacuoles of varying size which typically contained membranous debris or myelin-like figures together with massive lipid deposits. No reaction was seen in "free" cytoplasmic lipid droplets lacking a surrounding membrane. These results confirm and extend previous biochemical findings indicating that, in the cholesterol-fed rabbit, the change from normal smooth muscle cell to foam cell is accompanied by marked physical and chemical changes of the lysosomes, including their progressive overloading with cholesteryl ester. Small diaminobenzidine-positive particles were present in normal smooth muscle cells and in those at all stages of foamy transformation. These particles were more frequent in foam cells, in agreement with the marked increase in catalase activity detected biochemically in these cells.