title: Do most lymphocytes in humans really reside in the gut?
abstract: It is widely believed that the gut, and particularly the lamina propria (LP) of the gut, contains most of the lymphocytes in humans. The strong depletion of CD4(+) T cells from the gut LP of HIV-infected patients was, therefore, suggested to be such a large, irreversible insult that it could explain HIV disease progression. However, reviewing data from different mammalian species, we found that only 5%-20% of all lymphocytes reside in the gut, and that only 1%-9% of the total lymphocyte number is located in the gut LP. Our findings suggest that spleen and lymph nodes, rather than the gut, are the largest immune compartments in mammals.
authors.affiliation: Theoretical Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. v.v.ganusov@uu.nl
authors.forename: Vitaly V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Ganusov
authors.forename: Rob J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: De Boer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007422:Intestines / Q000276:immunology*; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D016097:Simian Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000276:immunology