[The age-related characteristics of autophagocytosis in different tissues of laboratory animals].

To elucidate the role of autophagy in age-related lipofuscinogenesis, the accumulation of autophagic vacuoles (AV) caused by the blockade of their fusion with lysosomes under the effect of vinblastine was studied in cells of various tissues (hepatocytes, pinealocytes, epitheliocytes of choroid plexus, cardiomyocytes, neurons) in mice and rats of different ages. The degree of AV accumulation in cells of old animals did not exceed that in adult ones. The results suggest that the accumulation of lipofuscin (LF) in aging cells is mainly due to the disturbance of lysosomal degradation or removal of LF out of cells rather than to the increase in autophagy.