Morphological study of rat thymus after tumoral, non-tumoral antigens and thiamine pyrophosphate administration

The study was performed on 60 Wistar white rats sacrificed 24 hours and 7 days after administration of glycoprotein 8 (extracted from Jensen rat tumors), glycoprotein 5 (from normal rat blood), bovine albumin, tuberculin (PPD), and a complex of strychnine, picrotoxin and TPP administered alone or together with the above-mentioned antigens. In order to study thymus morphological changes, methods of quantitative morphology and current histological techniques were used. The thymus responds morphologically to the antigenic administration - (glycoprotein 8, bovine albumin and PPD) - by cortico-medullary ratio modification, expressed by decrease of cortical surface and increase of medullary one, thymocytes agglomeration in the perivascular sheaths and their deliverance in the blood flow. Under other conditions (strychnine, picrotoxin and TPP administration) thymus responds only by thymocytes agglomeration in the perivascular sheaths. Glycoprotein 5 does not induce any modifications in thymus structure.