Lipofuscin Degeneration

By Atom Bergstrom

Atom’s Blog

ALL LIVING TISSUE is susceptible to Yellow Fat Disease, including bees, ants, fish, alligators, bears, cats, dogs, mink, pigs, chickens, horses, and human beings.

OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS are the prime culprits — DHA, EPA, ALA, etc.

They transform metal complexes into molecular attack weapons.

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Joseph Harari, MS, DVM, DACVS (“Yellow Fat Disease (Nutritional steatitis, Nutritional panniculitis),” Journal of Experimental Biology, May 1, 2013) wrote …

“The typical laboratory finding is an increased WBC count, with neutrophilia and sometimes eosinophilia. Biopsy of the subcutaneous fat shows it to be yellowish brown and firm. Histologic examination reveals severe inflammatory changes and associated ceroid pigment.

“The offending excessive fat source must be removed from the diet. Administration of vitamin E, in the form of α-tocopherol, at least 30 mg daily for cats, or 15 mg daily for mink, is necessary. Antibiotics are of doubtful value, despite the fever and leukocytosis. Parenteral use of fluids is not advisable unless dehydration exists. Because of associated pain, affected animals should be handled as little as possible.”

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Eyes are vulnerable to omega 3 fatty acids too.

Michel M.Teussink, et al. (“Lipofuscin-associated photo-oxidative stress during fundus autofluorescence imaging,” PLOS One, Feb. 24, 2017) wrote …

“Current standards and guidelines aimed at preventing retinal phototoxicity during intentional exposures do not specifically evaluate the contribution of endogenous photosensitizers. However, certain retinal diseases are characterized by abnormal accumulations of potential photosensitzers such as lipofuscin bisretinoids in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE).”

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Simon K. A. Robson & Ross H. Crozier (“An evaluation of two biochemical methods of age determination in insects (pteridines and lipofuscins) using the ant Polyrhachis sexpinosa Latrielle (Hymenoptera: Formicidae),” Australian Journal of Entomology, May 18, 2009) wrote …

“Accurate information on the age of wild‐caught animals is valuable for a variety of areas, but can be particularly difficult to obtain for small holometabolous insects, whose body size is fixed at the time of pupal eclosion. A variety of chemical groups, such as lipofuscins and pteridines accumulate in body tissues through time and can be used to predict age in a variety of arthropod taxa.”

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