Studio morfologico dello sviluppo e dell’attività funzionale delle tonsille palatine durante l’età embrionale

摘要

Palatine tonsils play an important role in the development of the immune system, being the first organ in the lymph system which analyses and reacts to antigenic stimulation. In this study, the peritonsillar area of Waldeyer’s ring was investigated in 88 normal human embryos which were examined histologically and immunohistochemically. The progressive development of palatine tonsils during embry- onic life is discussed. The first appearance of tonsils is in about the 14th -15th week followed by a parallel develop- ment of B- and T-cell regions which accounts for the high incidence of non mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphomas among all tonsillar lymphomas and the higher incidence of T-cell-lymphomas, in comparison to the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue of the digestive system. The way in which the human body develops the palatine tonsils quickly and prepares them to react to the first anti- genic stimulation, are discussed.