Influence of Neonatal Thymectomy on Cloning Capacity of Bone Marrow Cells in Mice

ALTHOUGH the bone marrow cell population is known to affect both the structure and function of thymus tissue 1 , experimental data indicating any defined influence of the thymus on bone marrow anatomy or physiology are scanty and inconclusive 2 . Thymectomy performed in Wistar rats a few weeks after birth does not modify their bone marrow cell population 3 . Thymectomy within 48 h of birth seems to produce an increase in the number of blasts (stem cells) and immature erythroblasts normally present in this tissue, however 4 . An increased percentage of immature erythroblasts in the bone marrow of thymectomized embryos has also been described in the opossum 5 .