Organs of the Immune System

by Pamela Lovy Fitness trainer The immune system contains the following organs and cells: tonsils and adenoids; the thymus gland; lymph nodes; bone marrow; and white blood cells that leave blood vessels and migrate through tissues and lymphatic circulation. The spleen, appendix, and patches of lymphoid tissue in the intestinal tract are also parts of the immune system.

The essential job of this system is to distinguish self-cells from foreign substances and to recognize and take protective action against any materials that ought not to be in the body, including abnormal and damaged cells.

The immune system can seek out and destroy disease germs, infected cells, and tumor cells. The immune system includes the following cells:

T lymphocytes (T cells)
B lymphocytes (B cells)
natural killer cells (NK cells)
dendritic cells
phagocytic cells
complement proteins
These cells develop from "pluripotential hematopoietic stem cells" starting from a gestational age of about five weeks. They circulate through various organs in the lymphatic system as the fetus develops.

T and B lymphocytes are the only units of the immune system that have antigen-specific recognition powers; they are responsible for adaptive immunity. In other words, the T and B cells are important in the immunity that vaccination promotes

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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

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