Body System
reticuloendothelial system
[ ri-tik-yuh-loh-en-doh-thee-lee-uhl sis-tuhm ]
Subclass of:
Immune system
Definitions related to reticuloendothelial system:
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A widely distributed collection of both free and fixed macrophages derived from bone marrow precursor cells by way of monocytes; their substantial phagocytic activity is mediated by immunoglobulin and the serum complement system. In both connective and lymphoid tissue, they may occur as free and fixed macrophages; in the sinusoids of the liver, as Kupffer cells; in the lung, as alveolar macrophages; and in the nervous system, as microglia.NCI ThesaurusU.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
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Mononuclear phagocyte system (monocytes and macrophages) plus the vascular endothelium and the reticular and dendritic cells of lymphoid organs; whether this heterogeneous collection can still be considered a "system" is controversial.CRISP ThesaurusNational Institutes of Health, 2006
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(mononuclear phagocyte system) Mononuclear cells with pronounced phagocytic ability that are distributed extensively in lymphoid and other organs. It includes MACROPHAGES and their precursors; PHAGOCYTES; KUPFFER CELLS; HISTIOCYTES; DENDRITIC CELLS; LANGERHANS CELLS; and MICROGLIA. The term mononuclear phagocyte system has replaced the former reticuloendothelial system, which also included less active phagocytic cells such as fibroblasts and endothelial cells. (From Illustrated Dictionary of Immunology, 2d ed.)NLM Medical Subject HeadingsU.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
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Mononuclear phagocyte system, class of cells that occur in widely separated parts of the human body and that have in common the property of phagocytosis, whereby the cells engulf and destroy bacteria, viruses, and other foreign substances and ingest worn-out or abnormal body cells. German...Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2020
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