A type of perivascular cell (fluorescent granular perithelial cell; FGP cell) found around the blood vessels of the rat brain contains granules which show auto-fluorescence in the cytoplasm. In this study, the localization of lipids and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in these FGP cells was investigated cytochemically and immunocytochemically in order to determine the functions of FGP cells.The cerebellar cortexes of male Wistar rats, aged 8 weeks to 30 months, were used. Triglyceride (TG), phospholipid (PL) and cholesteryl ester (CE) were revealed in FGP cells by using enzymic digestive methods. Endocytotic vesicles containing TG, PL and CE were located inside the FGP cells and were fused with granules. G1, G3, G4 and foamy G5 granules had TG, PL, CE and LDL in and around their membranes. G2 granules, with lower electron density than G1 granules, contained TG, PL, CE and LDL in their heterogeneous matrices. Lipids appeared to occur in granules as a lipoprotein.The results suggest that FGP cells take up TG, PL and CE by endocytosis and internalize them into these granules as components of LDL, playing the role of a scavenger macrophage in the perivascular space of the central nervous system. Fluorescent granular perithelial cells (FGP cells) are a type of perivascular cell with yellow autofluorescent granules in their cytoplasm and are present in the brains of many animals including humans (9-16). The FGP cells are located outside blood vessels, in the space between the basal lamina of vascular smooth muscle cells and glia limitans of astrocytic processes (Virchow-Robin space). The granules showing autofluorescence are 0.05-1.5 am in diameter in rats, and are variable in their electron density. It has been suggested that these granules contain lipids, based on their stainability with Sudan Blanck B. The FGP cells have potent uptake capacity for horseradish peroxidase, high molecular waste products and fat into the granules, and thus serve as macrophages. The precise way in which lipids are stored has not yet been elucidated, however.Scavenger receptors for oxidized LDL (low-density lipoprotein)' have been revealed in perivascular macrophages of bovine brain, and have been implicated in the development of atherosclerosis and various macrophage-associated functions (19). Recently, perivascular macrophages were identified as FGP cells by Mato et al. (16). The scavenger receptor-mediated pathway of modified LDL in macrophages has been well studied (23, 4). However, the uptake and pathway, of unmodified and modified LDL of the FGP cell in lipid metabolism are not known.In this study the distribution of triglycerides (TG), phospholipids (PL) and cholesteryl esters (CE) in FGP cells was investigated by enzymic digestive methods (18). The localization of LDL was investigated immunohistochemically. How FGP cells store lipids in their cytoplasm and granules, how LDL is metabolized in a FGP cell, and the functions of FGP cells were evaluated on the basis of the results obtained.