The normal human thymic vasculature: an ultrastructural study

Electron microscopy of the normal human thymus demonstrates a characteristic vascular-parenchymal relationship. The vascular lumen is always separated from the thymic parenchyma by: the endothelial cell cytoplasm, a muscular coat in arterioles and veins, the vascular basal lamina, a perivascular space containing collagen fibers and cells, the epithelial-reticular cell basal lamina and the epithelial-reticular cell cytoplasm. The width of this perivascular space is proportional to the size of the vessel it surrounds; it is wide around the vessels in the septa and at the cortical-medullary junction, but narrow around capillaries. While many cells are present in this space around larger vessels, only collagen is observed around the capillaries. Lymphocytes are the predominant cell type in the space; however, plasma cells, eosinophils, histiocytes, polymorphonuclear leukocytes, mast cells and unidentified granulated cells are also seen. The vascular complex described above may function as a blood-thymus barrier, as the initial site of exposure of the lymphocytes to circulating antigen and as the route of lymphocytes from the thymus.