This article is about the organ. For culinary use of animal thymus, see Sweetbread. For the plant genus Thymus, see Thymus (plant). For other uses, see Thymus (disambiguation).
Thymus
Position of the thymus
Details
Precursor
Third pharyngeal pouch
System
Lymphatic system, part of the immune system
Lymph
Tracheobronchial, parasternal
Function
Support the development of functional T cells
Identifiers
Latin
thymus
MeSH
D013950
TA98
A13.1.02.001
TA2
5152
FMA
9607
Anatomical terminology
[edit on Wikidata]
The thymus (pl.: thymuses or thymi) is a specialized primary lymphoid organ of the immune system. Within the thymus, thymus cell lymphocytes or T cells mature. T cells are critical to the adaptive immune system, where the body adapts to specific foreign invaders. The thymus is located in the upper front part of the chest, in the anterior superior mediastinum, behind the sternum, and in front of the heart. It is made up of two lobes, each consisting of a central medulla and an outer cortex, surrounded by a capsule.
The thymus is made up of immature T cells called thymocytes, as well as lining cells called epithelial cells which help the thymocytes develop. T cells that successfully develop react appropriately with MHC immune receptors of the body (called positive selection) and not against proteins of the body (called negative selection). The thymus is the largest and most active during the neonatal and pre-adolescent periods. By the early teens, the thymus begins to decrease in size and activity and the tissue of the thymus is gradually replaced by fatty tissue. Nevertheless, some T cell development continues throughout adult life.
Abnormalities of the thymus can result in a decreased number of T cells and autoimmune diseases such as autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 and myasthenia gravis. These are often associated with cancer of the tissue of the thymus, called thymoma, or tissues arising from immature lymphocytes such as T cells, called lymphoma. Removal of the thymus is called thymectomy. Although the thymus has been identified as a part of the body since the time of the Ancient Greeks, it is only since the 1960s that the function of the thymus in the immune system has become clearer.
The thymus (pl.: thymuses or thymi) is a specialized primary lymphoid organ of the immune system. Within the thymus, thymus cell lymphocytes or T cells...
was used to medicate bandages. Thymus citriodorus – various lemon thymes, orange thymes, lime thyme[citation needed] Thymus herba-barona (caraway thyme)...
plants Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thymus serpyllum. Wikispecies has information related to Thymus serpyllum. 'A Modern Herbal' (Grieves, 1931)...
1811., yet an analysis in a different study clustered Thymus citriodorus together with Thymus vulgaris, which is considered as one of its parent species...
Thymus transplantation is a form of organ transplantation where the thymus is moved from one body to another. It is used in certain immunodeficiencies...
Thymus hyperplasia refers to an enlargement ("hyperplasia") of the thymus. It is not always a disease state. The size of the thymus usually peaks during...
pre-adolescent periods. The thymus is located between the inferior neck and the superior thorax. At puberty, by the early teens, the thymus begins to atrophy and...
Thymus pseudolanuginosus - commonly called woolly thyme - is now also classified as Thymus praecox subsp. britannicus. It was also formerly known as Thymus...
A thymoma is a tumor originating from the epithelial cells of the thymus that is considered a rare malignancy. Thymomas are frequently associated with...
Thymus praecox is a species of thyme. A common name is mother of thyme, but "creeping thyme" and "wild thyme" may be used where Thymus serpyllum, which...
in the thymus, before it undergoes transformation into a T cell. Thymocytes are produced as stem cells in the bone marrow and reach the thymus via the...
Sweetbread is a culinary name for the thymus (also called throat, gullet, or neck sweetbread) or pancreas (also called stomach, belly or heart sweetbread)...
Thymus montanus may refer to one of following Lamiaceae species: Thymus montanus Waldst. & Kit. (illegitimate), a synonym for Thymus pulegioides (large...
following species in the flowering plant genus Thymus, the thymes, are accepted by Plants of the World Online. Thymus is considered a well‑defined genus within...
Thymus piperella is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to southeast Spain. It is used as a culinary herb, as a flavor in a digestif...
(involution) of the thymus with age, resulting in changes in the architecture of the thymus and a decrease in tissue mass. Thymus involution is one of...
with other Thymus species due to its diverse aromatics. However, Thymus vulgaris is more commonly used as herb than this species. Thymus zygis is mostly...
Thymus algeriensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to North Africa, from Morocco to Libya. A widespread species,...
Ectopic thymus is a condition where thymus tissue is found in an abnormal location. It usually does not cause symptoms, but may leads to a mass in the...
then migrate to the thymus gland to develop (or mature). T cells derive their name from the thymus. After migration to the thymus, the precursor cells...
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thymus caespititius. "Thymus". pss.uvm.edu. Retrieved 1 December 2020. "Thymus caespititius". temperate.theferns.info...
conehead thyme (Thymus capitatus), taking on the plant's pungency and from whence it also derived its host's Arabic name, al-ṣaʿitrah. Thymus capitatus is...
was three days old. This is because the thymus is the site where T cells are generated. Removal of the thymus resulted in autoimmunity, in which the immune...
Global Information