Thymus: Meaning, Location, Function & Hormones

Thymus gland is located between the lungs and behind the sternum of the human body. It is active only until puberty and starts shrinking right after the end of puberty and eventually gets replaced with fat. The Thymus gland helps in the production of the Thymosin hormone that aids the production and development of the T-cells. A type of cancer is also caused by Thymus, also known as Thymus cancer. Thymus cancer is noticed to be treatable through chemotherapy or surgery and is malignant in about 35% of the cases. 

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Key Terms: Thymus, Thymosin, Gland, Hormone, Cells, Disorders, Puberty

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What is Thymus?

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The thymus is a unique gland or organ that is found in human bodies. Its size remains the largest when the human is just a child and it constantly keeps shrinking as the child gets older. 

• The size of Thymus is about 4 to 6 cm long, 1 cm thick and 2.5 to 5 cm wide at birth.
• It is the largest in size during puberty and weighs a little under 30 grams. 
• The thymus starts to slowly shrink as the child exits puberty and becomes a fatty tissue when the human being is around 75 years of age. 
• The two lobes that are found in the Thymus have slightly different sizes, as the right lobe is much lower than the left lobe.

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Location of Thymus

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The gland of the thymus can be found behind the sternum or the breastbone, in the chest’s anterior part and between the lungs. Its complexion is found to be pinkish-grey and it has lobes including two of the primary lobes and smaller lobes emerging from the inside. The two lobes can be found in a state of separation or unity and their sizes can be of various sizes.

Location of Thymus Gland

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Anatomy of Thymus

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Mentioned below are the details:

• The thymus has two interesting cell lines. They are known as lymphoid cells and thymic epithelial cells. 
• Due to intrauterine angiogenesis, the lymphoid cells get transferred into the thymus.
• The lymphoid cells grow and develop because of the help of the thymic epithelium, as it is important for their maturation.
• The thymus lets the lymphoid progenitor cells access it during the 10th week of gestation. 
• After 12 weeks of the gestation period, the thymus appears as well-differentiated.

Anatomy of Thymus Gland

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Function of Thymus

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There are various functions of the Thymus gland in the human body. Some of it’s important functions are:

• To control the production of T-cells (also called T-lymphocytes) which are said to be very important, as they are directly responsible for killing or throwing off foreign pathogens (such as viruses, bacteria, etc). 
• They also help in the regulation of the immune system, which helps to prevent autoimmunity, which means when the body’s immune system starts attacking its own healthy cells.
• Thymus gland also releases Thymosin hormone secreted by the Thymus which is used to control the T-cells’ development.

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Disorders Related to Thymus

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There can be various disorders caused by The Thymus, some of them are known. 

• The disorder most commonly found is the one that is caused by the thymus gland’s dysfunction, that are known as pure red cell aplasia, hypogammaglobulinemia and Myasthenia gravis.
• Myasthenia gravis is a disease caused when the thymus gland gets enlarged abnormally. The enlarged thymus destroys the body’s muscle receptor sites by producing antibodies, hence making the muscles very weak.
• When the body’s immune cells start attacking the blood-forming stem cells, the disease is known as Pure red aplasia. It is normally caused due to a tumour in the thymus gland.
• When the body is unable to produce enough antibodies to fight any disease it results in Hypogammaglobulinemia.

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Thymosin

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Thymosin is a kind of hormone, secreted by the thymus gland to control the production of T-Cells. Then the lymphocytes, which are a kind of white blood cells, get passed through the thymus to get transformed into T-Cells. Upon becoming mature, The T-cells migrate to the body’s lymph nodes and help to aid the immune system of the body. The thymus gland remains active only until puberty, but it does produce all the required T-cells for the body, way before this particular period.

Structure of Thymosin

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Things to Remember

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• Thymus gland is located between the lungs and behind the sternum.
• It is active only until puberty and eventually gets replaced with fat. 
• The Thymus gland helps in the production of the Thymosin hormone that aids the production and development of the T-cells.
• Its size remains the largest when the human is just a child.
• One important function of the thymus is to control the production of T-cells.
• It also causes many disorders in the human body such as Hypogammaglobulinemia, Myasthenia etc.
• It can also cause autoimmunity, which further causes the body to produce antibodies against its own healthy cells.

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