title: Lymphocyte-rich Hassall bodies in the normal human thymus.
abstract: The study is concerned with the presence of an unusual Lymphocyte-rich type of Hassall body in the normal human thymus. Lymphocyte-rich Hassall bodies are large, they are usually lined by squamous epithelial cells, and contain closely packed lymphocytes in areas with necrotic and hyaline material. Lymphocyte-rich areas of the HassaLL bodies do not contain epithelial cells (as demonstrated with cytokeratin 8/18, 7, 34betaE12, and MNF116), they were negative for CD20 and S100 protein. Immunoreaction for CD3 was positive in 3 of 4 cases. Our results suggest that this type of Hassall body may be involved in the negative selection of thymocytes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Cytology, "Victor Babes" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, RO-300041 Timisoara, Romania. raica@umft.ro
authors.forename: Marius
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raica
authors.forename: Anca Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Cimpean
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Encica
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Motoc
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology; D005260:Female; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000166:cytology; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology*