Thymic health consequences in adults - Nature

"The thymus is a specialized immune organ responsible for maturing T cells, thereby producing a diverse T cell repertoire crucial for mounting an adaptive immune response. The thymus itself decays with age and eventually transforms entirely into adipose tissue through a process known as thymic involution."

"In a recent landmark study by Kooshesh et al. investigating the impact of thymectomy on long-term health, the authors found that adults who had their thymus removed experienced adverse health consequences across multiple diseases and outcomes, where penetrance can be decades after thymectomy."

"Given the role of the thymus in maintaining an adaptive immune response, the individualized rate of thymic decay may be a major driver of age-associated diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer."

The thymus matures T cells and creates a diverse T cell repertoire essential for adaptive immune responses. The organ naturally decays with age through thymic involution, eventually transforming into adipose tissue. While thymic absence in children causes severe immunodeficiency, its decline in adults was historically considered inconsequential. Recent evidence challenges this assumption, showing that thymectomy in adults produces adverse health consequences across multiple diseases, with effects appearing decades later. Thymic decay rates vary significantly among individuals, and this individualized variation may substantially contribute to age-associated diseases including cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Read at Nature