Running through your body is a network of channels and junctions called the lymphatic system, which siphons off waste and fluids like a biological sewer.
It was long thought the brain was excluded from this web of anatomical plumbing. After being spotted in mice brains two years ago, researchers have now confirmed the presence of lymphatic vessels in human brains, fueling speculation over the kinds of diseases they might be responsible for.
Way back in 1816, an Italian anatomist by the name of Paolo Mascagni saw what he thought were lymphatic vessels running across the human brain of the cadavers he was dissecting.
If he did, his eyesight was stellar – in spite of two centuries of searching, nobody else could find them.
The lymphatic system is made up of branching vessels transporting white blood cells in a clear fluid called lymph around the body.
Its purpose is to keep the fluids between tissues moving and provide easy access for the immune cells to maintain law and order deep inside our tissues.
The fact that nobody could replicate Mascagni's discovery wasn't exactly a perplexing mystery. A dense wall of cells called a blood-brain barrier separates the circulatory system from our grey matter, helping to protect it from potential nasties.
While most organs in the body have a tight working relationship with the cells of the immune system, the brain is like a delicate piece of art kept behind glass.
The absence of tiny drainage pipes keeping our nervous tissue clear of filth, pathogens, and debris just added to the belief that the brain was a special case in anatomy.
Read full at Science Alert
Comments
Post a Comment