Hemofuscin

HEMOFUSCIN, a golden-brown pigment found intracellularly in the vicinity of old hemorrhages and in certain pathological processes (mainly hemochromatosis) in the smooth musculature of blood and lymphatic vessels and the intestine. It is insoluble in acids and alkalis. It does not contain iron, even in a bound state. The corresponding microchemical reaction (for iron) is negative. Hemofuscin is considered a blood pigment. To date, however, it has not been established with certainty which substance is the basis of its origin: hemoglobin and its derivatives, or other protein substances and lipoids that make up the stroma of the blood corpuscle. Hueck identifies hemofuscin with lipofuscin, a pigment of non-blood origin. It may be added that in the past, the term hemofuscin was used to designate the pigment that is now called lipofuscin, as it was previously incorrectly thought that the latter was of blood origin.