Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
5
pubmed:dateCreated
1984-7-11
pubmed:abstractText
Thymuses from six heterosexual Haitian patients with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) were studied by light microscopy and the findings were compared with those from three control groups. The control groups included 1) five age-matched Haitian hospital patients; 2) ten age- and sex-matched Montreal patients who had died suddenly or had had brief illnesses; and 3) 20 middle-elderly Montreal patients who had experienced chronic, wasting illnesses or prolonged hospitalization. Thymuses from patients with AIDS demonstrated pronounced involution, effacement of the cortex and medulla, marked thymocyte depletion, variable degrees of plasma cell infiltration and fibrosis, and, above all, absence of Hassall's corpuscles. Thymuses from Haitian and Montreal control subjects who had died suddenly or had brief illnesses demonstrated minimal involution and abundant Hassall's corpuscles. Although thymuses from 12 of the chronically ill control subjects demonstrated marked involution, architectural effacement, and absence of Hassall's corpuscles, partial architectural preservation and variable numbers of Hassall's corpuscles were observed in eight of these subjects. Thus, the extent of thymic involution observed in patients with AIDS antedates that incurred with aging and supersedes that induced by sustained stress and inanition. The loss of Hassall's corpuscles in patients with AIDS suggests that the thymic epithelium either incurs a form of injury or undergoes precocious involution during the illness. Whether this lesion is central to the pathogenesis of AIDS or merely a reflection of intense, sustained stress coupled with accelerated physiologic involution is unknown. It is possible that the disappearance of Hassall's corpuscles may indicate important, although as yet cryptic events within the thymic microenvironment in this syndrome.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
May
pubmed:issn
0046-8177
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
15
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
N
pubmed:pagination
469-74
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1984
pubmed:articleTitle
Precocious thymic involution manifest by epithelial injury in the acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't