The spleen is an organ found in virtually all vertebrate animals with important roles in regard to red blood cells and the immune systemSpleen, Internet Encyclopedia of Science In humans, it is located in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. It removes old red blood cells, holds a reserve in case of hemorrhagic shock, especially in animals like horses (not in humans) and recycles iron.Mebius RE, Kraal G. (2005). Structure and function of the spleen. Nat Rev Immunol. 5(8):606-16. PMID 16056254 It synthesizes antibodies in its white pulp, removes from the circulation antibody-coated bacteria and antibody-coated blood cells. Recently it has been found to contain in reserve half the body's monocytes in its red pulp that upon moving to injured tissue such as the heart turn into dendritic cells and macrophages and aid wound healing.Swirski FK, Nahrendorf M, Etzrodt M, Wildgruber M, Cortez-Retamozo V, Panizzi P, Figueiredo J-L, Kohler RH, Chudnovskiy A, Waterman P, Aikawa E, Mempel TR, Libby P, Weissleder R, Pittet MJ. (2009). Identification of Splenic Reservoir Monocytes and Their Deployment to Inflammatory Sites. Science, 325: 612-616. DOI: 10.1126/science.1175202Jia T, Pamer EG. (2009). Dispensable But Not Irrelevant. Science, 325:549-550. doi: 10.1126/science.1178329 It is one of the centers of activity of the reticuloendothelial system, and can be considered analogous to a large lymph node. Its absence leads to a predisposition to certain infections.

Welcome to CWAnswers

CWAnswers is your guide to the sprawling world wide web. The directory aims to provide a useful guide made by users. You can share your knowledge as well - simply register and edit your first entry. For questions just contact the team at support - at - cwanswers.com.

Weblinks

Top 10

Things you find nowhere else.

Comments