[Structural organization of the duodenal wall and its lymphoid tissue in the persons of elderly age].

Structural organization of the duodenal wall was studied in older men (aged 70-75 years, n=15), and its lymphoid tissue was examined using the qualitative and quantitative analysis. Deformation, flattening and sparseness of the intestinal villi were identified. Atrophic phenomena in the organ mucous membrane were accompanied by the destruction of the cells of surface epithelium, crypts and glands. Simultaneous infiltration of the lamina propria with lymphocytes, eosinophils, neutrophils and malfunctions in a microcirculatory bed is indicative of the presence of inflammatory processes. The duodenum of the elderly persons was characterized by the disruption of the integrity of the lamina muscularis mucosae that lead to the displacement of the duodenal glands from submucosa to the lamina propria. The suppression of cell proliferative activity, decreased blast transformation activity, in the lymphoid tissue of the intestine, along with a high degree of cell destruction, lead to the weakening of local immunity in the elderly persons.