Cerebrovascular Changes in Tocopheroldepleted Chicks, Fed Linoleic Acid

Abstract
Chicks on an enccphalomalacia-inducing diet (EID), lacking in tocopherol and augmented with Iinoleic acid, exhibit the following triad of fluorescence, light and electron microscopic changes, selectively affecting the endothelium of brain capillaries: development of a gradually intensifying fluorescence, increased deposition of acid phosphatase reaction products, accumulation of electron-dense structures within the endothelial cytoplasm. These changes develop contemporaneously and coincide morphologically. The alterations precede the onset of pathologic lesions. They represent metabolic disturbances induced in cerebral endothelium by feeding the EID. Excessive ingestion of Iinoleic acid without antioxidant coverage could lead to peroxida-tive damage and degradation of subcellular constituents. Possibly the alterations reflect an early stage of ceroid formation associated with activation of endothelial lysosomes. The vascular changes may be a determining factor in the pathogenesis of nutritional encephalomalacia.