Lymphocyte: A white blood cell formed in bone marrow and distributed throughout the body in lymphatic tissue (e.g., lymph nodes, spleen, thymus, tonsils, Peyer patches), where it undergoes proliferation. In normal adults, lymphocytes make up 22-28% of the total number of leukocytes in the circulating blood. Lymphocytes generally are small (7-8 mcm), although larger forms (10-20 mcm) occur frequently. With Wright or similar stain, the nucleus is colored a deep purple-blue and is composed of dense aggregates of chromatin within a sharply defined nuclear membrane; the nucleus usually is round but may be slightly indented, and is eccentrically situated within a relatively small amount of light-blue cytoplasm that ordinarily contains no granules; especially in larger forms, the cytoplasm may be fairly abundant and include several fine granules of bright red-violet; unlike granules of the myeloid series of cells, those in lymphocytes do not yield a positive oxidase or perioxidase reaction. Lymphocytes are divided into two principal groups, T and B cells, based on their function and on characteristics of their surface molecules. Null cells, which include natural killer cells, represent a small percentage of the lymphocyte population. SYN: lymph cell, lympholeukocyte. [lympho- + G. kytos, call]
Source: Stedman's Medical Spellchecker, © 2006 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.
Lymphocyte: A type of white blood cell. Lymphocytes have a number of roles in the immune system, including the production of antibodies and other substances that fight infection and diseases.
Source: National Institute of Health
Lymphocyte: white blood cells formed in the body's lymphoid tissue.
Source: CRISP
Lymphocyte: White blood cells formed in the body's lymphoid tissue. The nucleus is round or ovoid with coarse, irregularly clumped chromatin while the cytoplasm is typically pale blue with azurophilic (if any) granules. Most lymphocytes can be classified as either T or B (with subpopulations of each); those with characteristics of neither major class are called null cells.
Source: MeSH 2007
Source - MeSH 2007
Source - MeSH 2007
Source - MeSH 2007
Source - CRISP
Source - MeSH 2007
Source - CRISP
Source: CRISP
The following list attempts to classify Lymphocyte into categories where each line is subset of the next.
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