Tonsillar crypts

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Tonsillar crypts
lymphoid tissue. Many lymph cells (dark-colored region) pass from the nodules toward the surface and will eventually mix with the saliva as salivary corpuscles (s).
Details
Identifiers
Latincryptae tonsillares
TA98A05.2.01.015
A13.2.02.002
A13.2.02.003
A05.3.01.008
TA25180, 5190
FMA76579
Anatomical terminology]

The human

oropharyngeal surface.[citation needed
]

The crypts extend through the full thickness of the tonsil reaching almost to its hemicapsule. In healthy tonsils the openings of the crypts are fissure-like, and the walls of the lumina are in apposition. A computerized three-dimensional reconstruction of the palatine tonsil crypt system showed that in the centre of the palatine tonsil are tightly packed ramified crypts that join with each other, while on the periphery there is a rather simple and sparse arrangement.[citation needed]

The crypt system is not merely a group of invaginations of the tonsillar epithelium but a highly complicated network of canals with special types of epithelium and with various structures surrounding the canals, such as blood and lymphatic vessels and germinal centers.[citation needed]

white blood cells concentrate by the tonsillar crypts as well, in response to the microorganisms attracted to the crypts. Accordingly, the tonsillar crypts serve a forward sentry role for the immune system, by providing early exposure of immune system cells to infectious organisms which may be introduced into the body via food or other ingested matter.[citation needed
]

However, the tonsillar crypts often provide such an inviting environment to

tonsilloliths" and sometimes known as "tonsil stones," have a foul smell and can contribute to bad breath; furthermore, they can obstruct the normal flow of pus from the crypts, and may irritate the throat (people with tonsil stones may complain of the feeling that something is stuck in their throat).[citation needed
]

Lingual tonsils in humans also have long crypts but, unlike the crypts in the palatine tonsils, they're unbranched.[2]

The small folds in adenoids are sometimes described as crypts.[3]

References

  1. ISBN 9781420002782
    .
  2. ^ Shahid S. "Tonsils". Ken Hub. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  3. PMID 30801022
    .
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