Tschernig T, Kleemann W J, Pabst R
Centre of Anatomy, Medical School of Hannover, Germany.
Thorax. 1995 Jun;50(6):658-60. doi: 10.1136/thx.50.6.658.
Bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) is well characterised in rabbits and rats. In humans, however, it does not seem to be present in the healthy adult lung, although it can develop after certain microbial stimulation.
In the present study a consecutive series of lungs from 88 children who had died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and 34 control cases of comparable age were examined for the presence of BALT.
BALT was present in 36.4% of the patients who had died of SIDS and in 44.1% of the control cases. The probability of finding BALT increased with age, with similar kinetics in both groups.
Future studies need to define when and at what rate BALT disappears as children get older. In young children BALT may act as an entry site for antigens to initiate an immune response, as is well documented for the gut-associated lymphoid system.
支气管相关淋巴组织（BALT）在兔和大鼠中已有充分研究。然而，在人类中，健康成人肺中似乎不存在BALT，尽管在某些微生物刺激后它可以发育。
在本研究中，对88例死于婴儿猝死综合征（SIDS）的儿童的连续系列肺组织以及34例年龄相仿的对照病例进行了BALT检测。
死于SIDS的患者中36.4%存在BALT，对照病例中44.1%存在BALT。发现BALT的概率随年龄增加，两组的动力学相似。
未来的研究需要确定随着儿童年龄增长BALT何时以及以何种速率消失。在幼儿中，BALT可能作为抗原的进入位点引发免疫反应，这在肠道相关淋巴系统中已有充分记录。
