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Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue

 

 
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Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue
 
 
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The mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) (also called mucosa-associated lymphatic tissue) is the diffuse system of small concentrations of lymphoid tissue found in various sites of the body
Body

With regard to organism, a body is the integral physical material of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death....
 such as the gastrointestinal tract
Gastrointestinal tract

The digestive tract is the system of Organ s within multicellular animals that takes in food, digestion it to extract energy and nutrients, and expels the remaining waste....
, thyroid
Thyroid

The thyroid is one of the largest endocrine glands in the body. This gland is found in the neck inferior to the thyroid cartilage and at approximately the same level as the cricoid cartilage....
, breast
Breast

The breast is the upper ventral region of an animal?s torso, particularly that of mammals, including human beings. The breasts of a female primate?s body contain the mammary glands, which secrete milk used to feed infants....
, lung
Lung

The lung is the essential respiration organ in air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located in the chest on either side of the heart....
, salivary gland
Salivary gland

The salivary glands in mammals are exocrine glands that produce saliva. They also secrete amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch into glucose. In other organisms such as Insecta, salivary glands are often used to produce biologically important proteins like silk or glues, and fly salivary glands contain polytene chromosomes that have been usefu...
s, eye
Eye

Eyes are Organ that detect light, and send signals along the optic nerve to the visual system and other areas of the brain. Complex optical systems with resolving power have come in ten fundamentally different forms, and 96% of animal species possess a complex optical system....
, and skin
Skin

The skin is the outer covering of the body, also known as the epidermis. It is the largest organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of epithelial biological tissue, and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments and organ s....
.

MALT is populated by lymphocytes such as T cells & B cells, as well as plasma cells and macrophages, each of which is well situated to encounter antigens passing through the mucosal epithelium.






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Encyclopedia


The mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) (also called mucosa-associated lymphatic tissue) is the diffuse system of small concentrations of lymphoid tissue found in various sites of the body
Body

With regard to organism, a body is the integral physical material of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death....
 such as the gastrointestinal tract
Gastrointestinal tract

The digestive tract is the system of Organ s within multicellular animals that takes in food, digestion it to extract energy and nutrients, and expels the remaining waste....
, thyroid
Thyroid

The thyroid is one of the largest endocrine glands in the body. This gland is found in the neck inferior to the thyroid cartilage and at approximately the same level as the cricoid cartilage....
, breast
Breast

The breast is the upper ventral region of an animal?s torso, particularly that of mammals, including human beings. The breasts of a female primate?s body contain the mammary glands, which secrete milk used to feed infants....
, lung
Lung

The lung is the essential respiration organ in air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located in the chest on either side of the heart....
, salivary gland
Salivary gland

The salivary glands in mammals are exocrine glands that produce saliva. They also secrete amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch into glucose. In other organisms such as Insecta, salivary glands are often used to produce biologically important proteins like silk or glues, and fly salivary glands contain polytene chromosomes that have been usefu...
s, eye
Eye

Eyes are Organ that detect light, and send signals along the optic nerve to the visual system and other areas of the brain. Complex optical systems with resolving power have come in ten fundamentally different forms, and 96% of animal species possess a complex optical system....
, and skin
Skin

The skin is the outer covering of the body, also known as the epidermis. It is the largest organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of epithelial biological tissue, and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments and organ s....
.

MALT is populated by lymphocytes such as T cells & B cells, as well as plasma cells and macrophages, each of which is well situated to encounter antigens passing through the mucosal epithelium. In the case of intestinal MALT, M cells are also present, which sample antigen from the lumen and deliver it to the lymphoid tissue.

Components

The components of MALT are sometimes subdivided into the following:
  • GALT (gut-associated lymphoid tissue
    Gut-associated lymphoid tissue

    The digestive tract's immune system is often referred to as gut-associated lymphoid tissue and works to protect the body from invasion....
    . Peyer's patches
    Peyer's patches

    Peyer's patches are diffuse lymphoid tissue, named after the 17th-century Swiss anatomist Johann Conrad Peyer. They are aggregations of lymphoid tissue that are usually found in the lowest portion of the small intestine in humans; as such, they differentiate the ileum from the duodenum and jejunum in that the number of Peyer's patches increa...
     are a component of GALT found in the lining of the small intestine
    Small intestine

    In vertebrates, including mammals, reptiles, birds, and bony fish, the small intestine is the part of the gastrointestinal tract following the stomach, and is where the vast majority of digestion takes place....
    s.)
  • BALT (bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue)
  • NALT (nose-associated lymphoid tissue)
  • LALT (larynx-associated lymphoid tissue)
  • SALT (skin-associated lymphoid tissue)
  • VALT (vascular-associated lymphoid tissue. A newly recognized entity that exists inside arteries; its role in the immune response is unknown. )
  • CALT (conjunctiva-associated lymphoid tissue in the human eye)


Role in disease

MALT plays a role in regulating mucosal immunity
Immunity (medical)

Immunity is a medical term that describes a state of having sufficient biological defenses to avoid infection, disease, or other unwanted biological invasion....
. It may be the site of lymphoma
Lymphoma

Lymphoma is a type of cancer that originates in lymphocytes of the immune system. They often originate in lymph nodes, presenting as an enlargement of the node ....
, usually non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma

The non-Hodgkin lymphomas are a diverse group of hematological malignancy which encompass any lymphoma other than Hodgkin lymphoma.Lymphoma is a type of cancer derived from lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell....
. A specific entity is the MALT lymphoma
MALT lymphoma

MALT lymphoma is a form of lymphoma involving the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue , frequently of the stomach, but virtually any mucosal site can be afflicted....
 linked to Helicobacter pylori
Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative, microaerophile bacterium that inhabits various areas of the stomach and duodenum. It causes a chronic low-level inflammation of the stomach lining and is strongly linked to the development of duodenal and gastric peptic ulcers and stomach cancer bacteria....
 in the stomach
Stomach

In most mammals, the stomach is a hollow muscular organ of the gastrointestinal tract involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication....
.

External links

  • - Patients Against Lymphoma