What is the purpose of tissue thymus?
The brake gland is a grayish pink, two-lined organ placed in the chest behind the chest and in front of the heart. The primary function of the grinding gland involved in the immune system is to produce specialized white blood cells called T-lymphocytes. T-lymphocytes are largely responsible for fighting viruses, tumors and foreign materials in the body. During this process, stem cell tissue is transformed from bone marrow to thymocytes, immature T-lymphocytes and programs them for central tolerance. Central tolerance means that immune cells will not respond to other cells and body tissues, a critical factor in preventing spontaneous immune damage or autoimmunity. If the brake gland is extracted before birth, the animals have a remarkably low capacity to connect immune responses. Make -up than normal animals for all kinds of infection. These animals will tolerate foreign tissue transplants without any sign of rejection, which is a sign that they do not have the ability to identify foreigntissue. Animals without the tissue of the thymus also develop cancer more easily than their normal counterparts.
thymus weighs approximately 15 grams at birth (£ 0.033). He continues his early childhood and complements about 35 grams (0.077 pounds) in puberty. Then the tissue of the thymus begins to shrink, over time, the fat tissue is largely replaced. At the age of 75, only about six grams (0.013 pounds) weigh thymus tissue. Atrophy of the thymus tissue with age partly explains the worsening immune function and an increased risk of cancer in the elderly.
premature removal of the thymus gland, techniques called thymectomy, leads to premature aging. Cardiovascular surgeons perform thymectomy to gain access to heart for cardiac surgery. This procedure may also require cancer or myasthenia gravis. During the development of the fetal tissue thymus creates a sufficient number of T-cells so that thymectomy does not produce after birtha lack of T-cells.
Autoimmune disease occurs when the immune cells of the body react against normal body tissues. These diseases are among the ten most common causes of death in elderly. Autoimmunity causes approximately 80 different conditions. In some of these diseases, such as myasthenia gravis, the thymus is swollen and hyperactive. The occurrence of autoimmune diseases increases with age.
immune deficiency is a situation where the ability of the body to fight infection is limited or non -existent. Pediatricians deal with more than 80 different disorders of primary immunodeficiency, many of which create abnormality in the function of T-lymphocytes. The treatment of immunodeficiency may include long -term antibiotics, antibodies or bone marrow transplantation. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a virus that directly attacks the circulating T-lymphocytes and tymocytes in the thyroid gland.