Lymphocytes and the Immune Response

PRESENT clinical and experimental data are consistent with a dual component lymphoid system consisting of marrow-derived stem cells that, under direct or hormonal influence of either the thymus or the "bursal equivalent," are programmed to respond to antigenic stimulation with cell-mediated or humoral responses, respectively. Although these functions are separable in various experimental and clinical situations, under normal circumstances immune expression by the lymphatic system after antigenic stimulation results in an interplay of these components and other parts of the reticuloendothelial system. It should be remembered that the immune response to most pathogenic antigens (e.g., bacterial, fungal, viral or transplantation) . . .