Abou-Rabia N, Kendall M D
Histology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Abbassia, Cairo, Egypt.
Cell Tissue Res. 1994 Sep;277(3):447-55. doi: 10.1007/BF00300217.
The thymus, as part of the immune-neuroendocrine axis, is greatly influenced by factors from most endocrine glands, especially the thyroid. Antithyroid drugs (carbimazole and methimazole) were used to induce hypothyroidism in rats. Histological and ultrastructural examination of the thymus showed progressive thymic involution after 4 weeks of drug treatment to the end of observations (7 weeks). The involution was characterised by increased thymocyte apoptosis and thymocyte phagocytosis by macrophages. This resulted in thymocyte depopulation, increases in numbers of interdigitating cells, alterations to mainly subcapsular and medullary epithelial cells, an apparent increase of mast cells and collagen in the capsule and septa, and increased numbers of B cells and plasma cells. Lymphoid cells immuno-reactive with MRC OX12 (which detects B cells) were observed within blood vessel walls, suggesting that they may have been moving in and out of the thymus. The administration of drugs causing hypothyroidism, therefore, also caused marked involution of the thymus.
作为免疫 - 神经内分泌轴的一部分，胸腺受到大多数内分泌腺（尤其是甲状腺）分泌因子的显著影响。使用抗甲状腺药物（卡比马唑和甲巯咪唑）诱导大鼠甲状腺功能减退。对胸腺进行组织学和超微结构检查发现，从药物治疗4周直至观察结束（7周），胸腺呈现进行性萎缩。这种萎缩的特征为胸腺细胞凋亡增加以及巨噬细胞对胸腺细胞的吞噬作用增强。这导致胸腺细胞数量减少、树突状细胞数量增加、主要是被膜下和髓质上皮细胞发生改变、被膜和间隔中肥大细胞和胶原蛋白明显增多，以及B细胞和浆细胞数量增加。在血管壁内观察到与MRC OX12免疫反应阳性的淋巴细胞（MRC OX12用于检测B细胞），这表明它们可能在进出胸腺。因此，给予导致甲状腺功能减退的药物也会引起胸腺的明显萎缩。
