Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue

The mucosal immune system, or MALT mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (called GALT (gut) in the GIT, and BALT in the airways (bronchus))) is lymphoid tissue in the mucosal or submucosal tissues.

Peyer plaques in distal section ilea, histological preparation

• d-MALT – diffuse lymphoid tissue (cells are scattered in the mucous membrane or submucosa);
• o-MALT – organized lymphoid tissue (cells are arranged in lymphatic follicles, which can be separate (folliculi lymphatici solitarii) or pooled into the so-called Peyer patches (folliculi lymphatici aggregati)).

Above the lymphatic follicles, is the intestinal wall covered with FAE (follicle-associated epithelium), which contains a large number of M-cells (membrane cells - they endocyte antigens from the intestinal lumen and pass it on to the lymphocytes).

Links

Source

• PASTOR, Jan. Langenbeck's medical web page [online]. [cit. 2009]. <https://langenbeck.webs.com/>.