[Structural changes in the thymus in experimental tuberculosis]

Structural and functional alterations in the thymus in experimental tuberculosis are phasic in nature and involve 2 stages. In the early stage of tuberculous process, the morphofunctional status of cell elements of the blood-thymic barrier increases as vascular permeability and lymphocyte migration rise and the synthesis of epithelial cells of the medulla gets activated. During disseminated tuberculosis cell elements of the thymic parenchyma undergo destructive changes as a result of histohematic barrier impairment leading to disturbed homeostasis and organ alterations. Thymic macrophages develop from monocytes rather than from local cells.