Tuesday 24 November 2009

zoology - Is the appendix a vestigial structure in all vertebrates?

Aside from humans, it is largely rodents and most notably rabbits that have an appendix. Therefore, using rabbits as my example:



In rabbits, the appendix is thought to have a key role in the development of the immune system. Specifically it has been shown experimentally that when neonatal rabbits are given an appendectomy levels of Immunoglobulin A and G (IgA/IgG) fall dramatically. Both these polypeptides are prominent antibodies - IgA plays a key role in mucosal immunity whilst IgGs in humoral immunity. These effects were localised to the small intestine of the rabbits, however were statistically significant. 1



In infants, the rabbit appendix resembles the chicken bursa and sheep ileal Peyer's patch (both performing similar functions as described above).2



This has led to some ongoing research as to whether the human appendix has a similar properties in having function in infants 3:




If the human appendix functions as a primary lymphoid organ, it may occur during the first few months of age when the GC T-cell density is low.





1Neonatal appendectomy impairs mucosal immunity in rabbits. Cell Immunol. 1997 Nov 25;182(1):29-37



2The appendix functions as a mammalian bursal equivalent in the developing rabbit. Adv Exp Med Biol. 1994;355:249-53.



3A morphological and immunohistological study of the human and rabbit appendix for comparison with the avian bursa. Dev Comp Immunol. 2000 Dec;24(8):797-814.

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