Central nervous regulation of spleen function: New insights from animal studies.

ABSTRACT

The spleen is located in the upper left quadrant of the abdomen. It has two main functions that is acting as part of the immune system and as a filter. The spleen has a thin connective tissue capsule from which short septa extend inwards. These septa are, in turn, connected to a complex reticulin framework.There are two distinct components of the spleen, the red pulp and the white pulp. The red pulp consists of large numbers of sinuses and sinusoids filled with blood and is responsible for the filtration function of the spleen. The splenic venomotor fibres join the left phrenic nerve in the mid-cervical region. Coursing with it as non-medullated fibres, they eventually perforate the diaphragm, where for a time they accompany the inferior phrenic artery. Deviating towards the celiac ganglion, they next join company with the splenic vein, and are eventually distributed to localised parts of the vein. This review article evaluates the conventional knowledge and points to new insights into neural regulation of spleen.