Summary
Calcium content and pineal concretions were studied in young (2–3 months) and old (28 months) Wistar rats. Samples, deep-frozen by liquid propane/isopentane and freeze-dried were analysed by means of X-ray microanalysis in a scanning electron microscope. Total semi-quantitative measurements revealed that pineals of old rats showed a marked increase of calcium compared with the pineals of young rats. It is thus suggested that a calcium-rich environment is responsible for the growth of pineal concretions, which only appear in old rats. Pineal calcifications in rats could thus be an indicator of aging and/or of a degenerating state.
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Humbert, W., Pévet, P. Calcium content and concretions of pineal glands of young and old rats. Cell Tissue Res 263, 593–596 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327294
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327294