LYMPHOCYTES IN THE INTESTINE: ROLE AND DISTRIBUTION

The human immune system is well adapted to cope with the wide variety of foreign anti gens encountered throughout life. To date our understanding of immune mechanisms and of their failures, is far from complete. With the development of new techniques, knowl edge is emerging which, while increasing our understanding, is also revealing the complexity of the immune system. This review will at tempt to describe current knowledge regarding the cellular immune component of the intes tine with a brief introduction to the general cellular immune system. Readers interested in an overall review of gut-associated lymphoid tissue may refer to the review by Kagnoff (1).