Red pulp

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Red pulp
Transverse section of a portion of the spleen. (Spleen pulp labeled at lower right.)
Spleen
Latin	pulpa splenica
Gray's	subject #278 1284
Dorlands/Elsevier	p_41/12679479

The red pulp (also called splenic pulp, but should not be confused with white pulp) is a soft mass of a dark reddish-brown color, resembling grumous blood

It consists of a fine reticulum of fibers, continuous with those of the splenic trabeculae, to which are applied flat, branching cells.

Modern texts usually divide the space of the red pulp into cords of Billroth and sinusoids.

[edit] Cells found in red pulp

The meshes of the reticulum are filled with blood:

• The white corpuscles are found to be in larger proportion than they are in ordinary blood.

• Large rounded cells, termed splenic cells, are also seen; these are capable of ameboid movement, and often contain pigment and red-blood corpuscles in their interior.

• The cells of the reticulum each possess a round or oval nucleus, and like the splenic cells, they may contain pigment granules in their cytoplasm; they do not stain deeply with carmine, and in this respect differ from the cells of the Malpighian bodies.

• In the young spleen, giant cells may also be found, each containing numerous nuclei or one compound nucleus.

• Nucleated red-blood corpuscles have also been found in the spleen of young animals.

[edit] See also

• spleen
• white pulp
• marginal zone

[edit] External links

• Anatomy Atlases - Microscopic Anatomy, plate 09.175 - "Spleen: Red Pulp"
• Dictionary at eMedicine red+pulp
• Diagram at kctcs.edu
• Description and diagram at apsu.edu

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.