Fate of the Lymphocyte

Abstract

Although the count of circulating lymphocytes in the blood stream remains constant, more lymphocytes enter the blood from the thoracic duct during 24 hours than are present in the blood at any one time. This excess of lymphocytes is not destroyed in the blood stream. The cells migrate from the blood vessels into the mucous membranes and through them to their surface. This occurs chiefly in the gastrointestinal tract, and it is apparently in the mucosa and especially within the intestinal lumen that the function of the lymphocyte is normally performed.

Role of lymphocytes in non-immune experimental inflammation

“…Lymphoedema did not develop, but the number of lymphocytes in the peripheral blood markedly decreased, thus confirming previous reports [9,101. To what extent the resulting lymphopenia or poor recirculation of lymphocytes each individually affect the inflammatory responses to carrageenin is not easy to determine.…”

The Characteristics of Thoracic Duct Lymph in Man

“…In dogs, rabbits and cats the ligation of both right and left thoracic ducts results in a prompt fall in the peripheral blood lymphocyte number (18,19). Similar results have been obtained by diverting the lymph flow by thoracic duct cannulation (20,21,22).…”

The Distribution and Enteric Loss of ⁵¹Cr-Labelled Lymphocytes in Normal Subjects and in Patients with Coeliac Disease and Other Disorders of the Small Intestine

“…The main tissues which appear to be involved in this migration are the lymph nodes, spleen, thymus, bone marrow and the gut. Although never convincingly demonstrated, many workers have suggested that some of the IE lymphocytes are normally lost into the gut lumen (4,16,18) and therefore in conditions where they are increased in number any such loss is likely to be greater. We therefore decided to study the migratory pattern of lymphocytes in normal human subjects and in those with inflammatory bowel disease and coeliac disease.…”