Woving Towards a New Era in the Research of Tonsils and Mucosai Barriers

摘要

The palatine and nasopharyngeal tonsils (adenoids) are lymphoepithelial tissues located in strategic anatomical areas of the oral pharynx and nasopharynx. These immu-nocompetent tissues represent the first line of defense against ingested or inhaled foreign proteins such as bacteria, viruses, or food antigens. Accompanying the advances being made in the field of medicine today, the role of the tonsils in immunocompetence is becoming extremely important. Upper respiratory tract infections such as acute otitis media, acute rhinosinusitis and acute pharyngo-tonsillitis are diseases that occur with extremely high frequency, and the antimicrobial agents used to treat these diseases account for a large proportion of health care costs. The increasingly refractory nature of upper respiratory tract infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria has become a major worldwide concern.The elucidation of the immune functions of the tonsils and mucosal membranes of the upper respiratory tract is considered to have important significance. The tonsils are also considered to play an important role as one of the causes of sleep apnea syndrome, and have been reported to be intimately involved in the manifestation of IgA nephropathy and palmoplantar pustulosis, a kind of skin disorder. Interest has continued to grow in this symposium with each session ever since it was first held in Kyoto, Japan in 1987.