Library · Histology
The tonsil from the inside
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Seen under the microscope, the palatine tonsil is a mass of lymphoid tissue, the tissue where immune cells live.
Its surface is not smooth: it folds inward into about fifteen passages called crypts, lined by a nonkeratinized stratified squamous epithelium, meaning it is layered and lacks the tough outer layer that skin has. Think of a paper filter pleated like an accordion: the folds are what give it all that surface area without taking up more room.
Around the crypts are structures with names of their own. They are the germinal centers, the areas where B lymphocytes multiply; the mantle zones that surround them; and a reticular epithelium, right in the wall of the crypt.
On that surface live M cells, specialized for trapping antigens from pathogens, the bits of microbes that the immune system recognizes. And because the crypts are tunnels, debris and bacteria also settle there and over time pack down into tonsilloliths, those white, foul-smelling little stones that form in the crypts.
In brief
Under the microscope, the palatine tonsil is lymphoid tissue with crypts lined by nonkeratinized stratified squamous epithelium.
That epithelium is not smooth: it dips into about fifteen crypts that create a large internal surface area.
A pleated filter: the fold is what creates the surface.
Around them are germinal centers, where B lymphocytes multiply, plus mantle zones and the reticular epithelium of the crypt.
On the surface are M cells, specialized for capturing antigens from pathogens.
Those same crypts collect debris and bacteria that form tonsilloliths.
Sources (3)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingAnatomy, Head and Neck, Palatine Tonsil (Faucial Tonsils), StatPearlsPublished
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingHistology, B-Cell Lymphocyte, StatPearlsPublished
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingAnatomy, Head and Neck: Tonsils, StatPearlsPublished
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