BACKGROUND Previously, we reported an association between higher maternal polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations and smaller thymus volume in newborns in a birth cohort residing in eastern Slovakia. OBJECTIVE In the present report we address whether thymus volume at later ages is influenced by prenatal and early postnatal PCB exposure. METHODS At the time of delivery, 1,134 mother-in...

Although the mechanisms of cross-talk that regulate the hematopoietic and epithelial compartments of the thymus are well established, the interactions of these compartments with the thymic endothelium have been largely ignored. Current understanding of the thymic vasculature is based on studies of adult thymus. We show that the neonatal period represents a unique phase of thymic growth and diff...

Transgenic mice with human CD3epsilon gene have been shown to exhibit early arrest of T cell development in the thymus. The present study shows that, instead of T cells, B cells are generated in the thymus of a line, tg epsilon26, of the human CD3epsilon transgenic mice. The accumulation of mature B cells in the thymus was found only in tg epsilon26 mice, not in other human CD3epsilon transgeni...

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a potent growth factor that mature T lymphocytes synthesize and use as a proliferation signal. Much controversy has arisen concerning whether it is used to drive the extensive proliferation of immature pre-T cells in the thymus. Immature thymocytes acquire the competence to express IL-2 at an early stage, but it has remained uncertain whether they are activated to exerci...

In vitro cultures of spleen cells (S) from normal 8-10-wk-old DBA/2J mice were shown to develop a small number of plaque-forming cells (PFC) that released antibodies lytic to syngenic and autologous thymus cells as well as to syngenic lymphoma L5178Y cells used as the target in the PFC assay. A marked increase in the number of PFC detectable on L5178Y target cells was demonstrated on day 4 in t...

Cancer cells, however, continue to grow and divide, and can spread to other parts of the body. These cells accumulate and form tumors (lumps) that may compress, invade, and destroy normal tissue. If cells break away from such a tumor, they can travel through the bloodstream, or the lymph system to other areas of the body. There, they may settle and form "colony" tumors. In their new location, t...

Part Three addresses communicable diseases in four color-coded sections based on mode of transmission (airborne; fecal-oral; direct and indirect contact; and blood and sexual contact) and contains a discussion of 26 common communicable diseases that consider the prevalence, transmission, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of each disease. The discussion of each disease is four to six pages in...