STROMAL REMODELLING AND CELLULAR REDISTRIBUTION IN REGIONAL LYMPH NODES FOLLOWING CHRONIC COMBINED PARTICULATE AND TOBACCO-SMOKE INHALATION
Abstract
Relevance. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and tobacco smoke are among the leading global environmental risk factors, and their combined inhalation places a dual burden on the immune system. While the effects of each agent on the lung have been widely studied, the fate of the connective-tissue framework and the effector-cell composition of the draining lymph nodes under their combined action is far less understood. Because inhaled particulates accumulate in lung-associated lymph nodes and remodel their architecture with age, the capsule, trabeculae and medullary effector compartment represent an informative but underexplored read-out of chronic injury. This thesis focuses on stromal remodelling and the redistribution of the cellular population rather than on the follicular apparatus alone.
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