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Patterns of age-dependent changes in the numbers of lymph follicles and germinal centres in somatic and mesenteric lymph nodes in growing C57Bl/6 mice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2001

HAJIME HOSHI ,
KAEKO HORIE ,
KIYOSHI TANAKA ,
HIDETUGU NAGATA ,
SIN AIZAWA ,
MASAKI HIRAMOTO ,
TOSHIO RYOUKE  and
HIROSHI AIJIMA
HAJIME HOSHI
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
KAEKO HORIE
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
KIYOSHI TANAKA
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
HIDETUGU NAGATA
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
SIN AIZAWA
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
MASAKI HIRAMOTO
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
TOSHIO RYOUKE
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
HIROSHI AIJIMA
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
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Abstract

The timing of the first appearance of lymph follicles and germinal centres in various lymph nodes, and the ways in which numbers of these and IgM-synthesising cells increase within the nodes, were investigated in male and female C57Bl/6N mice aged from 4 d to 16 wk. The lymphoid organs examined were the Peyer's patches, spleen, somatic (submandibular, deep cervical, brachial, axillary, inguinal and popliteal) and visceral (mesenteric and lumbar) lymph nodes. Primary follicles appeared in most somatic lymph nodes 6 d after birth. The number of follicles per node then increased rather sharply in larger lymph nodes and slowly in smaller nodes, up to 28 d of age, reaching a level which varied according to the location of the node. Thereafter, the number of follicles in the somatic lymph nodes increased only slightly to moderately, reaching a peak or plateau at 8–12 wk. In the mesenteric (ileocaecal) nodes, primary follicles first appeared at 12 d, then increased linearly during the suckling period and after weaning to reach a plateau at 8 wk of age. Germinal centres appeared in the submandibular and mesenteric nodes at 28 d and their numbers increased consistently in the latter, while remaining low in the former. The impact of possible ‘natural’ exogenous antigen stimulation of the various lymph nodes was estimated from the presence of IgM-synthesising cells and germinal centres. Differences between the patterns of age-dependent changes in the numbers of lymph follicles observed in the somatic and mesenteric lymph nodes during their ontogeny are discussed in relation to differences in the magnitude of the exogenous antigen stimulatory effect. We also found that the variations in the numbers of lymph follicles produced in somatic lymph nodes at different locations during the first 28 d after birth reflected differences in the dimensions of the body regions drained by a particular somatic lymph node at this stage of development.

Keywords

Primary lymph folliclesIg-M synthesising cellsfollicular dendritic cellsPeyer's patchesspleen
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Anatomy , Volume 198 , Issue 2 , February 2001 , pp. 189 - 205
Copyright
© Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2001

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