Vigorita V J, Hutchins G M
Am J Pathol. 1978 Dec;93(3):661-5.
Although iron in cases of hemochromatosis has been described in virtually every organ, its presence in the thymus has only been rarely observed. While investigating all cases of hemochromatosis autopsied at The Johns Hopkins Hospital over the past decade, 4 adult cases in which the thymus was available for histologic study were examined in light of recent documentation of this organ's role in lymphopoiesis and secretory activity. Iron-containing moieties were found within both lymphocytes and epithelial cells of these involuted thymic glands. The thymic iron suggests either an uptake of iron moieties from the vascular pool or their synthesis within the cell itself. While the former mechanism provides evidence against the existence of an impermeable blood-thymus barrier, the latter supports the existence of a metabolically active gland with complex function.
尽管在血色素沉着症患者中，铁几乎在每个器官中都有发现，但其在胸腺中的存在却很少被观察到。在对约翰·霍普金斯医院过去十年间所有进行过尸检的血色素沉着症病例进行调查时，鉴于该器官在淋巴细胞生成和分泌活动中的作用有了最新文献记载，对4例可用于组织学研究的成年胸腺病例进行了检查。在这些萎缩胸腺的淋巴细胞和上皮细胞内均发现了含铁部分。胸腺中的铁表明，要么是从血管池中摄取了铁部分，要么是在细胞自身内合成的。前一种机制证明不存在不可渗透的血胸腺屏障，而后一种机制则支持存在一个功能复杂、代谢活跃的腺体。
