Histological comparison of the thymus of germfree (axenic) and conventional CFW mice

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Abstract
The histology of the thymus of both germfree and conventional mice at days 0, 14, 50, and 168 supports the interpretation of the growth pattern of the thymus as a reflection of the lymphocyte population of the cortex and medulla. In general the conventional thymus has more small lymphocytes in the cortex and more lymphocytes migrating into the medulla than in its germfree counterpart. Hence it would seem that antigenic challenge stimulates lymphocyte production in the thymus cortex and initiates a chain of events that may eventually result in thymus lymphocytes populating the other lymphoid tissues of the body, or that may result in lymphocyte degeneration in the thymus and the subsequent releas of a humoral factor that may stimulate the other lymphoid tissue to lymphocytopoiesis.