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Query: UMLS:C0040425 (tonsillitis)
 1,594 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The immune function of tonsils and the immunological mechanisms of focal tonsillitis are still controversial. We do have some knowledge about the structure of tonsillar cells, but their functional status is still not clear. In 40 cases of chronic recurrent tonsillitis and 20 cases of focal tonsillitis with glomerular nephritis, cell culture of tonsillar lymphocytes was removed in vitro and 3H-tymidin incorporation applied to investigate the spontaneous DNA synthesis of tonsillar lymphocytes. The results demonstrated that: i) In chronic tonsillitis, spontaneous DNA synthesis of tonsillar lymphocytes in children is significantly stronger than that in adults (19,946 +/- 5,612 vs 9,216 +/- 5,702 cpm) (p <0.01). ii) Spontaneous DNA synthesis of tonsillar lymphocytes in focal tonsillitis is significantly stronger than that in the chronic recurrent tonsillitis in patients of the same age (25,307 +/- 12,231 cpm vs 12,455 +/- 7,914 cpm) (p <0.01). This indicates that the tonsillar lymphocytes are active in focal tonsillitis, can produce large amounts of memory B-cell clones, which reach other parts of the body through the blood and cause autoimmune reaction which can be blocked by tonsillectomy, thus curing the systemic disease.
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PMID:Experimental study on spontaneous DNA synthesis of tonsillar lymphocytes in chronic recurrent tonsillitis and focal tonsillitis. 908 50

Human palatine tonsils are clinically important due to their susceptibility to tonsillitis and association with other local and systemic diseases. Paradoxically, the tonsils function as antigen sampling sites of the mucosal immune system and, consequently, the tonsil epithelia perform both protective and antigen sampling roles. These epithelia are divided into stratified squamous epithelium overlying the tonsil surface and crypt epithelium lining the tonsil crypts, the latter of which includes reticular areas which are infiltrated by lymphocytes and are responsible for antigen sampling. In this study we characterised cytokeratin and glycoconjugate expression by healthy epithelia of human palatine tonsils. We identified pan-epithelial tonsil markers and also demonstrated that the surface and reticular crypt epithelia are differentiated by the expression of multiple cytokeratins. The latter finding supports the hypothesis that these epithelia undergo alternate differentiation pathways and possess different functional roles. In addition, we identified cell subpopulations in the tonsil epithelia which may represent distinct cell subtypes including specialised antigen sampling cells. These findings establish a basis for future studies to investigate histochemical changes in tonsil epithelia that are associated with or predispose to local and/or systemic disease.
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PMID:Differential cytokeratin and glycoconjugate expression by the surface and crypt epithelia of human palatine tonsils. 1113 Oct 96