Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, No. 6, Shuangyong Street, Nanning 530021, P.R. China.
Key Laboratory of Early Prevention and Treatment for Regional High Frequency Tumor (Guangxi Medical University), Ministry of Education, No. 22, Shuangyong Street, Nanning 530021, P.R. China.
Exp Anim. 2022 May 20;71(2):173-183. doi: 10.1538/expanim.21-0150. Epub 2021 Dec 1.
The immune response plays a key role in the disease development of the organism, while immune function serves as an important indicator for animal models evaluation. The tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri chinensis), as a new laboratory animal with a close genetic relationship with primates, has been used to construct various disease models. However, the immune system of tree shrews, especially anatomical descriptions of lymph nodes, is still relatively unknown. In this study, a total of 16 different lymph nodes were identified, including superficial lymph nodes and deep lymph nodes. Superficial lymph nodes were located in the head and neck region (submandibular lymph node, parotid lymph node, deep and superficial cervical lymph nodes) and at the forelimb (axillary and accessory axillary lymph nodes, subscapular lymph node) and hindlimb (popliteal, sciatic, and inguinal lymph nodes). Deep lymph nodes comprise mediastinal lymph nodes located in thoracic cavity and abdominal lymph nodes that are mainly located in each mesentery (mesenteric, gastric, pancreatic-duodenal, renal lymph nodes) or along the major vessels (iliac lymph nodes). In addition, we described the spleen and thymus of the tree shrew, as well as two lymphoid tissues in the top wall of the nasal cavity and the oropharynx. This study mainly describes the tree shrew immune system from an anatomical and histopathological perspective and provides fundamental research references for the establishment of various animal models of tree shrews.
树鼩（Tupaia belangeri chinensis）作为一种与灵长类动物具有密切遗传关系的新型实验动物，已被用于构建各种疾病模型。然而，树鼩的免疫系统，特别是淋巴结的解剖描述，仍然相对未知。在本研究中，共鉴定出 16 个不同的淋巴结，包括浅表淋巴结和深部淋巴结。浅表淋巴结位于头部和颈部区域（颌下淋巴结、腮腺淋巴结、颈深和颈浅淋巴结）和前肢（腋窝和副腋窝淋巴结、肩胛下淋巴结）和后肢（腘窝、坐骨和腹股沟淋巴结）。深部淋巴结包括胸腔内的纵隔淋巴结和主要位于每个肠系膜（肠系膜、胃、胰十二指肠、肾淋巴结）或沿大血管分布的腹部淋巴结（髂淋巴结）。此外，我们还描述了树鼩的脾脏和胸腺，以及鼻腔顶壁和口咽的两个淋巴组织。本研究主要从解剖学和组织病理学的角度描述了树鼩的免疫系统，为树鼩各种动物模型的建立提供了基础研究参考。
