Chapter 19

Lymphatic
System and
Immunity

Macrophage
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 Lymphatic System
• Consists of two semi-independent parts
– A network of lymphatic vessels
– Lymphoid tissues and organs scattered throughout
the body
• Lymphatic nodules
• Lymph nodes
• Tonsils
• Spleen
• Thymus
• Returns interstitial fluid and leaked plasma
proteins back to the blood
– Lymph: interstitial fluid once it has entered
lymphatic vessels
Functions of the Lymphatic System

1. Maintains fluid balance in tissues

– Returns three liters of fluid a day back to
the circulation
2. Absorbs fats from the small intestine
– Lacteals: specialized lymph capillaries
present in the intestinal mucosa
• Absorb digested fat and deliver chyle (fatty
lymph) to the blood
3. Defends against microorganisms and
foreign substances
 Lymphatic Vessels
• One-way system
• Lymph flows toward the heart
• Lymph vessels include
– Microscopic, permeable, blind-ended
capillaries
– Lymphatic vessels
– Ducts
• Lymphatic capillaries → Lymphatic
vessels → Lymphatic ducts (largest of
them all)
Lymphatic System

Fig. 19.1
 Lymphatic Vessels
• Lymphatic Capillaries
– Similar to blood capillaries, with modifications
• Very permeable
• Loosely joined endothelial mini-valves
• Withstand interstitial pressure and remain open
– Join to form lymphatic vessels
• Lymphatic vessels have valves that ensure the
one-way flow of lymph
• Lymph is moved by
– Contraction of lymphatic vessel smooth muscle
– Skeletal muscle action
– Thoracic pressure changes
Lymph Formation and Movement

Fig. 19.2
 Lymphatic Vessels
• Lymph is delivered into
one of two large trunks
– Right lymphatic duct:
drains the right upper
arm and the right side
of the head and thorax
– Thoracic duct: arises
from the cisterna chyli
and drains the rest of
the body
Fig. 19.1
 Lymphatic Tissue
• Reticular connective tissue that contains
lymphocytes and other cells
• Can be surrounded by a capsule (lymph
nodes, spleen, thymus)
• Can be non-encapsulated (diffuse lymphatic
tissue, lymphatic nodules, tonsils)
• Diffuse lymphatic tissue consists of dispersed
lymphocytes and has no clear boundaries
• Lymphatic nodules are small aggregates of
lymphatic tissue (e.g., Peyer’s patches in the
small intestines)
Lymphatic Tissue and Organs
• Peyer’s patches:
– Isolated clusters of lymphoid tissue, similar to
tonsils
– Found in the wall of the distal portion of the small
intestine
– Similar structures are found in the appendix
• Peyer’s patches and the appendix:
– Destroy bacteria, preventing them from breaching
the intestinal wall
– Generate “memory” lymphocytes for long-term
immunity
Fig. 19.3
Lymphatic Tissue and Organs
• Tonsils
– Simplest lymphoid organs
– Form a ring of lymphatic tissue around the pharynx
– Location:
• Palatine tonsils: either side of the posterior end of the
oral cavity
• Lingual tonsils: lie at the base of the tongue
• Pharyngeal tonsil: posterior wall of the nasopharynx
– Epithelial tissue overlying tonsil masses
invaginates, forming blind-ended crypts
– Crypts trap and destroy bacteria and particulate
matter
Fig. 19.4
Lymphatic Tissue and Organs
• Lymph nodes
– Principal lymphoid organs of the body
– Embedded in connective tissue and clustered
along lymphatic vessels
– Aggregations of these nodes occur near the body
surface in inguinal, axillary, and cervical regions of
the body
– Two basic functions:
• Filtration: macrophages destroy microorganisms and
debris
• Immune system activation: monitor for antigens and
mount an attack against them
Lymph Node

Fig. 19.5
Lymphatic Tissue and Organs
• Lymph nodes (cont.)
– Nodes are bean shaped and surrounded by
a fibrous capsule
– Trabeculae extended inward from the
capsule and divide the node into
compartments
– Nodes have two
histologically
distinct regions:
a cortex and a
medulla

Fig. 19.5
 Lymphatic Tissue and Organs
• Lymph nodes (cont.)
– Cortex contains follicles with germinal
centers, heavy with dividing B cells
– Dendritic cells nearly encapsulate the
follicles
– T cells circulate continuously among the
blood, lymph nodes, and lymphatic stream
– Deep cortex
houses T cells in
transit

Fig. 19.5
Lymphatic Tissue and Organs
• Spleen
– Is in the left superior side of the abdomen
– Two distinct areas:
• White pulp: contains mostly lymphocytes
suspended on reticular fibers and are involved
in immune functions
• Red pulp: remaining splenic tissue concerned
with disposing of worn-out RBCs and
bloodborne pathogens
– The spleen is a limited reservoir for blood
Fig. 19.6
Lymphatic Tissue and Organs
• Thymus
– A bilobed organ that secretes hormones
(thymosin and thymopoietin) that cause T
lymphocytes to become immunocompetent
– Size of the thymus varies with age:
• In infants, it is found in the inferior neck and
extends into the mediastinum where it partially
overlies the heart
• It increases in size and is most active during
childhood
• It stops growing during adolescence and then
gradually atrophies
Lymphatic Tissue and Organs
• Thymus (cont.)
– Differs from other lymphoid organs in
important ways
• It functions strictly in T lymphocyte maturation
• It does not directly fight antigens
– The stroma of the thymus consists of star-
shaped epithelial cells (not reticular fibers)
– These thymocytes secrete the hormones
that stimulate lymphocytes to become
immunocompetent
Thymus

Fig. 19.7
 Fig. 19.8
Overview of
the Lymphatic
System
 Immunity
• The ability to resist the harmful effects of
microorganisms and other foreign
substances
– Adaptive immunity exhibits specificity and
memory
– Innate immunity does not show specificity
or memory
 Innate Immunity
• Responds quickly and consists of:
– Mechanical mechanisms
• Skin and mucosae prevent entry of
microorganisms
• Tears, saliva, and mucus remove them
– Chemical mediators
– Cells
– Inflammatory Response
 Innate Immunity
• Chemical mediators promote phagocytosis
and inflammation (Tab. 19.1)
 Innate Immunity
• Complement
– Each complement pathway involves a
cascade in which compliment proteins are
activated in an orderly sequence. The end
result is cell lysis, phagocytosis, and
inflammation
– Refers to a group of 20 or so proteins that
circulate in the blood in an inactive form
– Provides a major mechanism for destroying
foreign substances in the body
– Amplifies all aspects of the inflammatory
response
– Kills bacteria and certain other cell types (our
cells are immune to complement)
 Innate Immunity
• Complement (con’t.)
– Can be activated by either the classical or
the alternative pathway
• Classical pathway is part of adaptive immunity
– Depends on the binding of antibodies to invading
organisms
– Subsequent binding of C1 to the antigen-antibody
complexes (complement fixation)
• Alternative pathway is part of innate immunity
– Triggered by interaction among factors B, D, and
P, and polysaccharide molecules present on
microorganisms
Fig. 19.9
 Innate Immunity
• Interferons
– Leave the infected cell and enter
neighboring cells
– Stimulates the neighboring cells to produce
proteins to prevent the replication of viruses
– Activate macrophages and natural killer
cells
 Innate Immunity
• Cells
– Chemotaxis is the ability of white blood cells to
move to tissues that release certain chemicals
– Phagocytosis is the ingestion and destruction of
materials.
– Neutrophils are small phagocytic cells
– Basophils and mast cells release chemicals that
promote inflammation
– Eosinophils release enzymes that reduce
inflammation
– Natural killer cells lyse tumor cells and virus-
infected cells
 Innate Immunity
• Cells
– Macrophages are large phagocytic cells
• Can engulf more than neutrophils can
• In connective tissue they protect the body at
locations where microbes are likely to enter,
and macrophages clean blood and lymph
• Some macrophages have specific names
– Dust cells in the lungs
– Kupffer cells in the liver
– Microglia in the CNS
Tab.
19.2
 Innate Immunity
• Inflammatory Response
– Can be initiated in many ways
• Chemical mediators cause vasodilation and
increase vascular permeability, which allows
the entry of other chemical mediators
• Chemical mediators attract phagocytes
• The amount of chemical mediators and
phagocytes increases until the cause of the
inflammation is destroyed. Then the tissue
undergoes repair
 Innate Immunity
• Inflammatory Response Fig.
– Local inflammation produces the 19.10

symptoms of
• Redness
• Heat
• Swelling
• Pain
• Loss of function
– Symptoms of systemic
inflammation include
• An increase in neutrophil numbers
• Fever
• Shock
Tab.
19.3
 Adaptive Immunity
• The adaptive immune system is a functional
system that:
– Recognizes specific foreign substances
– Acts to immobilize, neutralize, or destroy foreign
substances
– Amplifies inflammatory response and activates
complement
• The adaptive immune system is antigen-
specific, systemic, and has memory
• It has two separate but overlapping arms:
– Antibody-mediated immunity (provided by
antibodies in the blood and lymph)
– Cell-mediated immunity (lymphocytes are involved)
 Adaptive Immunity
• Antigens are large molecules that
stimulate an adaptive immune system
response
• Foreign antigens are not produced by the
body (self-antigens are)
• B cells are responsible for antibody-
mediated immunity
• T cells are involved with cell-mediated
immunity
 Adaptive Immunity
• Origin and Development of Lymphocytes
– B cells and T cells originate in red bone marrow
• B cells are processed in bone marrow
• T cells are processed in the thymus
– Positive selection ensures the survival of lymphocytes that can
read against antigens
– Negative selection eliminates lymphocytes that react against
self-antigens
– A clone is a group of identical lymphocytes that can respond to
a specific antigen.
– B cells and T cells move to lymphatic tissue from their
processing sites
• They continually circulate from one lymphatic tissue to another
 Fig.
19.11
 Adaptive Immunity
• Activation of Lymphocytes
– The antigenic determinant (epitope) is the specific
part of the antigen to which the lymphocyte
responds
• The antigen receptor (T-cell receptor or B-cell receptor)
on the surface of lymphocytes combines with the
antigenic determinant
– MHC class I molecules display antigens on the
surface of nucleated cells, resulting in the
destruction of the cells
– MHC class II molecules display antigens on the
surface of antigen-presenting cells, resulting in the
activation of immune cells
 Fig.
19.12
 Adaptive Immunity
• Activation of Lymphocytes
– MHC antigen complex and costimulation are
usually necessary to activate lymphocytes
• Costimulation involves cytokines and certain surface
molecules
– Antigen-presenting cells stimulate the proliferation
of helper T cells which stimulate the proliferation of
B or T effector cells
 Fig.
19.13
 Adaptive Immunity
• Inhibition of Lymphocytes
– Tolerance is suppression of the immune
system’s response to an antigen
– Tolerance is produced by
• The deletion of self-reactive cells
• The prevention of lymphocyte activation
• Suppressor T cells
Tab.
19.4
 Fig.
19.14
 Adaptive Immunity
• Antibody-Mediated Immunity
– Antibodies are proteins
• The variable region of an antibody combines with
the antigen
• The constant region
activates complement or
binds to cells
• Five classes of antibodies
exist: IgG, 1gM, IgA, IgE,
and IgD

Fig. 19.15
 Fig.
19.15
Tab.
19.5
 Adaptive Immunity
• Antibody-Mediated Immunity
– Antibodies affect the antigen in many ways
• Bind to the antigen and interfere with antigen
activity or bind the antigens together
• Increase phagocytosis by binding to the antigen
and to macrophages
• Can activate complement through the classical
pathway
• Attach to mast cells or basophils and cause the
release of inflammatory chemicals when the
antibody combines with the antigen
 Fig.
19.16
 Adaptive Immunity
• Antibody-Mediated Immunity
– Antibody Production
• The primary response results from the first
exposure to an antigen
– B cells form plasma cells, which produce antibodies and
memory B cells
• The secondary response results from exposure to
an antigen after a primary response
– Memory B cells quickly form plasma cells and additional
memory B cells
 Fig.
19.17
 Adaptive Immunity
• Cell-Mediated Immunity
– Cells infected with intracellular microorganisms
process antigens that combine with MHC class I
molecules
– Cytotoxic T cells are stimulated to divide,
producing more cytotoxic T cells and memory T
cells, when MHC class I/antigen complexes are
presented to T-cell receptors
– Cytokines released from helper T cells also
stimulate cytotoxic T cells
 Adaptive Immunity
• Cell-Mediated Immunity
– Cytotoxic T cells lyse virus-infected cells, tumor
cells, and tissue transplants
– Cytotoxic T cells produce cytokines, which promote
phagocytosis and inflammation
 Fig.
19.18
 Fig.
19.19
 Fig. 19.20
• Immune interactions
• Innate immunity,
antibody-mediated
immunity, and cell-
mediated immunity
can function together
to eliminate an
antigen
Acquired Immunity

Fig. 19.21
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