Thymuscoffeywilkins
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The Thymus Gland
Courtney Wilkins & Emmy Coffey
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What is it?
Main organ of lymphatic system
Assist in growth and sexual development
Made of lymphoid tissue consisting of tightly packed white
blood cells and fat.
2 lobes
Each lobule has inner region called the medulla and outer region
called the cortex
Cortex contains immature T-lymphocytes, not yet ready to
distinguish body cells and foreign cells
Medulla contains mature cells
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Where is it?
Located immediately beneath the breast bone at the level of
the heart
Made up of two lobes in front of the trachea
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Hormones this gland produces
Thymosin-causes T lymphocytes to mature and grow,
increases immune responses, stimulates pituitary gland
hormones
3 thymosins: alpha, beta, gamma
Thympoeitin & thymulin makes it possible to distinguish Tlymphocytes and enhances T-cell function
thymic humoral factor (THF) increases immune responses
particularly to viruses
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Affect on human body
Transform lymphocytes (white blood cells that were made in
the bone marrow) into T cells. T cells are sent off to different
lymph glands, where they fight infections and disease
Mainly affects newborns/children
Thymus gland begins as size of apple and begins to decrease in
size once puberty hits
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Maintaining Homeostasis
Thymus gland is necessary to fight infections. Without it, as a
child you’d have immune deficiency.
Scientists are trying to determine if your thymus gland
doesn’t shrink, would the human body fight HIV/AIDS, cancer
etc. better.
Most of immune development occurs before birth, so
removing the thymus gland, due to complications, may not
cause problems for them.
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Feedback mechanisms and
antagonistic hormones
Thymus is part of the immune system so it does not have
many feedback mechanisms.
There are no antagonistic hormones.
Hormones that act to return body conditions to within
acceptable limits from opposite extremes are called
antagonistic hormones.
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What happens if the gland doesn’t
function properly? How do you
treat the problem?
You can have immune deficiency.
Dr Jacques Miller discovered that the thymus gland is very
important for the defense against infections and disease.
Removed the thymus glands from newborn mice and found that
they were more susceptible to infection/disease and in most
cases died.
A couple ways to help treat a malfunctioning thymus are to
get a transplant, have immune cell infusions, or simply treat
the infections you get with prescribed antibiotics.
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http://www.ask.com/question/what-hormone-does-thethymus-gland-produce
http://www.innerbody.com/image_endoov/lymp04new.html#full-description
http://biology.about.com/od/anatomy/ss/thymus.htm
http://www.wehi.edu.au/about_us/achievements/professor_j
acques_miller/