Abstract
THE thymus is an active site of lymphopoiesis in the very young mouse1,2 but lymphocytes are not present in the spleen, lymph nodes or gut wall during the first few days after birth3. It is likely that this organ is also an important site of lymphocyte formation in young rats4, and Schooley and Kelly5 have demonstrated a significant decrease in the output of thoracic duct lymphocytes in rats which were thymectomized early in life. The thymus also plays an important part in the formation of the peripheral lymphoid tissue5,6 which begins to develop during the first week after birth3,7. During the first month, however, the rate of development of the lymph nodes and spleen is very slow8.
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HEATH, T. Output of Thoracic Duct Lymphocytes in Young Rats. Nature 203, 1296–1297 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/2031296a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2031296a0
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