title: Structural Changes in Large Intestinal Aggregated Lymphoid Follicles in Wistar Rats During Postnatal Ontogeny.
abstract: Quantitative evaluation of aggregated lymphoid follicles in various compartments of the large intestine was carried out in Wistar rats of different age: newborn (3-4 days), prepubertal (20-30 days), adult (2-3 months), and old (16-18 months). No aggregated lymphoid tissue was detected in the large intestinal mucosa of newborn animals. The cecum of prepubertal, adult, and old animals contained solitary patches with 7-9 follicles. Higher percentage of aggregated lymphoid tissue, associated with colonic mucosa, was explained by enlargement of the lymphoid patch area and of the number of solitary lymphoid follicles during the postnatal ontogenesis. The mean area of a patch in the distal part of the colon in prepubertal, adult, and old animals was 3.2, 2.5, and 2.2 times larger than in the medial part of the intestine, the number of follicles per patch was 2.8, 2.8, and 2.5 times higher, respectively. The differences were significant only for the two younger groups.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Human Morphology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. genebio@mail.ru.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Tikhonov
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000276:immunology; D002432:Cecum / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000276:immunology; D003106:Colon / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000276:immunology; D004386:Duodenum / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000276:immunology; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000276:immunology; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D010581:Peyer's Patches / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000276:immunology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
keywords: large intestine; lymphoid tissue; postnatal development periods; rat