Effect of neonatal thymectomy on rabbit tonsils.
An intensive lymphocyte migration takes place through the venules lined with high endothelium and situated in the extrafollicular areas of the tonsils. After thymectomy the migration of lymphocytes is less marked and in the areas surrounding the vessels lymphocyte depletion, connective tissue proliferation and a disintegration of the intimate contact between reticular cells and reticular fibres can be observed. A similar lymphocyte depletion appears also in the epithelium. Similarly as the deep cortical substance of the lymph nodes the extrafollicular regions of the tonsils belong to the peripheral lymphoid organs.
D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000166:cytology; D011817:Rabbits; D012156:Reticulocytes / Q000502:physiology; D013934:Thymectomy