Lymphatic Organs page 32

Contents

Yves Clermont, Michael Lalli, Zsuzsanna Bencsath-Makkai
LIGHT-MICROSCOPIC HISTOLOGY ATLAS

6. Lymphatic Organs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

6.32 Spleen

Version française

Drawing illustrating the composition of the spleen with the white pulp (left) and the red pulp (right).

The red pulp shows the marginal zone free of venous sinuses and the remaining red pulp with numerous venous sinuses (S).

The white pulp is a dense lymphatic tissue with lymphoid cells located in spaces between reticular cells and fibres. It includes capillaries that open directly into the marginal zone.

This marginal zone is composed of small reticular cells and fine reticular fibres infiltrated with blood cells, platelets and macrophages. The blood cells percolate through this marginal zone and reach the red pulp containing venous sinuses. These sinuses are separated by the splenic cords (of Billroth). The blood cells which do not degenerate during their travel through the red pulp return to the blood circulation through gaps between the endothelial cells of the sinuses (see Figure 5.32C).

The spleen thus serves to filter the blood by eliminating senescent blood cells and platelets.

The text and images of this Histology Atlas, by Yves Clermont, Michael Lalli & Zsuzsanna Bencsath-Makkai, are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada Licence and cannot be modified without the written permission of the authors. Use of any text or images must carry an acknowledgement which includes a link to the original work.