Is the thymus a target organ in infectious diseases?
| Autor: | E C Da Fonseca, S D Barbosa, M do C de Moraes, M Hontebeyrie-Joscowicz, Wilson Savino, V C De Almeida |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 1992 |
| Předmět: |
Microbiology (medical)
lcsh:Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine lcsh:RC955-962 Cellular differentiation T cell Cell lcsh:QR1-502 Thymus Gland Biology Infections medicine.disease_cause infectious diseases Epithelium lcsh:Microbiology Extracellular matrix T-Lymphocyte Subsets thymus schistosomiasis medicine Animals Humans Chagas Disease Autoantibodies Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Cell Differentiation thymic microenvironment Extracellular Matrix Chagas' disease AIDS Molecular mimicry Thymocyte medicine.anatomical_structure Lymphatic system thymocytes Acute Disease Immunology Atrophy CD8 |
| Zdroj: | Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz., Vol 87, Pp 73-78 (1992) Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Volume: 87 Supplement 5, Pages: 73-78, Published: 1992 |
| ISSN: | 1678-8060 0074-0276 |
| Popis: | The thymus is a central lymphoid organ, in which T cell precursors differentiate and generate most of the so-called T cell repertoire. Along with a variety of acute infectious diseases, we and others determined important changes in both microenvironmental and lymphoid compartments of the organ. For example, one major and common feature observed in acute viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases, is a depletion of cortical thymocytes, mostly those bearing the CD4-CD8 double positive phenotype. This occurs simultaneously to the relative enrichment in medullary CD4 or CD8 single positive cells, expressing high densities of the CD3 complex. Additionally we noticed a variety of changes in the thymic microenvironment (and particularly its epithelial component), comprising abnormal location of thymic epithelial cell subsets as well has a denser Ia-bearing cellular network. Moreover, the extracellular matrix network was altered with an intralobular increase of basement membrane proteins that positively correlated with the degree of thymocyte death. Lastly, anti-thymic cell antibodies were detected in both human and animal models of infectious diseases, and in some of them a phenomenon of molecular mimicry could be evidenced. Taken together, the data reviewed herein clearly show that the thymus should be regarded as a target in infectious diseases. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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