Aging is a continuous process that induces many alterations in the cytoarchitecture of different organs and systems both in humans and animals. Moreover, it is associated with increased susceptibility to infectious, autoimmune, and neoplastic processes. The thymus is a primary lymphoid organ responsible for the production of immunocompetent T cells and, with aging, it atrophies and declines in functions. Universality of thymic involution in all species possessing thymus, including human, indicates it as a long-standing evolutionary event. Although it is accepted that many factors contribute to age-associated thymic involution, little is known about the mechanisms involved in the process. The exact time point of the initiation is not well defined. To address the issue, we report the exact age of thymus throughout the review so that readers can have a nicely pictured synoptic view of the process. Focusing our attention on the different stages of the development of the thymus gland (natal, postnatal, adult, and old), we describe chronologically the morphological changes of the gland. We report that the thymic morphology and cell types are evolutionarily preserved in several vertebrate species. This finding is important in understanding the similar problems caused by senescence and other diseases. Another point that we considered very important is to indicate the assessment of the thymus through radiological images to highlight its variability in shape, size, and anatomical conformation.

译文

衰老是一个连续的过程,会导致人类和动物不同器官和系统的细胞结构发生许多变化。此外,它与感染,自身免疫和肿瘤过程的易感性增加有关。胸腺是负责产生免疫活性T细胞的主要淋巴器官,并且随着年龄的增长,它会萎缩和功能下降。胸腺内卷在所有拥有胸腺的物种 (包括人类) 中的普遍性表明这是一个长期的进化事件。尽管人们公认许多因素会导致与年龄相关的胸腺内卷,但对该过程中涉及的机制知之甚少。启动的确切时间点没有很好的定义。为了解决这个问题,我们在整个评论中报告了胸腺的确切年龄,以便读者可以对该过程有很好的了解。我们将注意力集中在胸腺发育的不同阶段 (出生,出生后,成年和老年),我们按时间顺序描述了腺体的形态变化。我们报告说,在几种脊椎动物物种中,胸腺形态和细胞类型在进化上得以保留。这一发现对于理解衰老和其他疾病引起的类似问题非常重要。我们认为非常重要的另一点是通过放射学图像指示对胸腺的评估,以突出其形状,大小和解剖构象的可变性。

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