The thymus gland is a target in malnutrition

The thymus is a common target in malnutrition and infection.

Malnutrition, secondary to deficiency in intake of proteins, minerals or vitamins, consistently results in changes in the thymus. This organ undergoes a severe atrophy due to apoptosis-induced thymocyte depletion, particularly affecting the immature CD4+CD8+ cells, as well as a decrease in cell proliferation. This feature is apparently linked to a hormonal imbalance, involving a decrease in lep...

The thymus: a barometer of malnutrition.

In 1810 J. F. Menkel noted that the human thymus was especially sensitive to malnutrition (see Jackson, 1925; Beisel, 1992), and the term ‘nutritional thymectomy’ came into common usage. By 1845 Simon (1845) had observed that the thymus is ‘a barometer of malnutrition, and a very sensitive one’. These observations were made over a century before the role of the thymus in lymphocyte development ...

The Thymus Is a Common Target Organ in Infectious Diseases

Infectious disease immunology has largely focused on the effector immune response, changes in the blood and peripheral lymphoid organs of infected individuals, and vaccine development. Studies of the thymus in infected individuals have been neglected, although this is progressively changing. The thymus is a primary lymphoid organ, able to generate mature T cells that eventually colonize seconda...

The Thymus Gland - ReadingSample

A Case of Enlarged Thymus Gland

an abnormally large thymus gland in itself cannot be considered to be indicative of status thymicolymphaticus when no obvious cause of death is found at post mortem. On the other hand, Moncrieff (1938) has remarked that an enlarged thymus is not a common chance finding .in .the chests of infants who have been z-rayed for other conditions, of heart or lungs. Also a study of a number of healthy i...