The spleen is a soft, spongy organ of the lymphatic system. It serves two general functions in adults: 1.Fights infection. Acts as a giant lymph node, scanning erythrocytes, platelets and antigens. Lymphocytes produced in the spleen fight disease causing pathogens. 2. Filters aged erythrocytes, platelets and blood-borne antigens. The spleen is the largest lymphatic mass in the body and lies intraperitoneally in the left upper quadrant. It sits on the left colic flexure1, in the left …showed first 75 words of 1155 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1155 total…Physiology. 10th Edition. John Wiley ans Sons Inc. United States of America. 3.Abbas, Lichtman and Pober. Cellular and Molecular Immunology. 4th Edition. W.B Saunders Company. Pennsylvania. 2000. 4.http://cats.med.uvm.edu/cats_teachingmod/histology/lectures_online/immune/spleen/index.html 5.Roitt, Brostoff, Male. Immunology. 6th Edition. Harcourt Publishers. 2001 6.http://www.acm.uiuc.edu.sigbio/project/updated-lyphatic/lymph6.html 7.http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spleendiseases.html 8.http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=AN00615