Calcium concretions in the pineal gland of aged rats: an ultrastructural and microanalytical study of their biogenesis

The genesis of calcium concretions in aged rats was studied by means of transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The potassium pyroantimonate method, combined with X-ray microanalysis, allowed us to study the distribution of cations and calcium. Notable accumulations of calcium (associated with phosphorus) were localized in vesicles, vacuoles, lipid droplets, lipopigments, and mitochondria of dark pinealocytes. The results obtained in the present investigation suggest that these organelles are involved in the genesis of the concretions. The presence of sulfur indicates the existence of an organic matrix. We propose that genesis takes place in dark pinealocytes, which contain more calcium than light pinealocytes. Mineralization foci are some-times associated with cellular debris and enlarge by further apposition of material. Two types of concretions, as determined by electron microscopy and confirmed by electron diffraction, could be observed: the amorphous type with concentric layers and the crystalline type with needle-shaped crystals. Once formed, the concretions reach the extracellular space and the cell breaks down. Possible extracellular calcification is suggested in the extracellular calcium-rich floculent material. The mineralization process is interpreted as being an age-related phenomenon and mainly a consequence of the degeneration of pinealocytes.