Comparative Morphological and Anatomical Study on Thymus Gland of Human and Primate

Address for Correspondence: P. Devi Raja Rajeswari, Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, Raja Dental College, Kavalkinaru, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India. E-mail: [email protected] Access this Article online Quick Response code Web site: *1,2 Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, Raja Dental College, Kavalkinaru, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India. 3 Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, Vellamal Medical College, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. Context: The comparative morphological and anatomical study on thymus was carried out in human and primate. The prenatal stage of Macaca radiata was selected for the present study. Study Design: Cross sectional analytical type of study. Place and Period of study: Department of Anatomy, Dr. A.L.M. PG Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chennai from July 1999 to June 2000. Materials: The comparative morphology and anatomy of thymus of human embryonic, 10 weeks, 15 weeks and prenatal foetuses, and monkey foetus was carried out. Methods: Comparative micro-anatomical study was done by paraffin processing method. The sections were stained as per the method published by Culling (1974). Results: In monkey foetus, the thymus gland is slightly elongated, whereas in human foetuses it is not elongated and oval in shape. The size of the thymus is larger in human foetuses than monkey foetus. In both cases cells are parenchymal in nature. Due to spatial organization in human foetuses, the lymphocytes aggregation is more in cortex than in medulla. In monkey foetus the lymphocyte aggregation is simpler in arrangement through spatial organization is much less.