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EOSINOPHIL LEUCOCYTES IN THE CHILD'S THYMUS
Author(s) -
BHATHAL P. S.,
CAMPBELL P. E.
Publication year - 1965
Publication title -
australasian annals of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 0571-9283
DOI - 10.1111/imj.1965.14.3.210
Subject(s) - eosinophil , immunology , germinal center , antigen , phagocytosis , medulla , biology , immune system , antibody , pathology , medicine , endocrinology , b cell , asthma
SUMMARY Eosinophils were found in all of the 180 thymuses of children examined. They were distributed chiefly in the interlobular septa and medulla, especially around vessels. Some Hassall's corpuscles contained them. They can multiply in the thymus as indicated by the presence of myelocytes which occasionally showed mitotic activity. The presence of eosinophils in the thymus was thoroughly documented in the early years of this century but has been ignored in recent years. There is no satisfactory explanation of their function in the thymus. From the literature it appears almost certain that the eosinophil plays a part in the immune response. Reports indicate that at least one of its functions is the phagocytosis of antigen‐antibody complexes and that these complexes attract eosinophils. In view of what is known of the function of the eosinophil and the not unusual presence of plasma cells and very rarely of germinal centres in the thymus, the presence of eosinophils may indicate the production of some antibody by the thymus. A second possibility is that the eosinophils have been attracted to areas of elimination of “self”‐reactive lymphocytes in the thymus.