2. Cellular accumulations

Intracellular Accumulations 

It is one of the manifestations of metabolic derangements in cells wherein abnormal amounts of various substances are accumulated within the cells. 

The intracellular substances accumulated could be 

(1) Normal cellular constituent, such as water, lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates, that accumulates in excess. 

(2) Abnormal substance, either exogenous, such as a mineral or products of infectious agents, or endogenous, such as a product of abnormal synthesis or metabolism. 

The substances may accumulate either transiently or permanently, 

They may be harmless to the cells, or on occasion could be toxic. 

They may be located in the cytoplasm or in the nucleus. 

In some instances the cell may be producing the abnormal substance, and in others it may be merely storing products of pathologic processes occurring elsewhere in the body.