Abstract
The term reticuloendothelial system (RES) or its alternate, histiocytic metabolic apparatus, was adopted by Ludwig Aschoff (1924) to define a group of diffuse collections of mesenchymal cells identified by phagocytic activity with ingestion and accumulation of particulate matter, as well as by their staining characteristics using vital dyes such as trypan blue, toluidine blue, lithium carmine, or pyrrole blue. Today some authors prefer the term mononuclear phagocyte system or lympho-reticular system as more adequate. It has been recognized that the common biologic and functional nature of these cells is of diverse ontogeny and phylogeny, but with common pathophysiologic and protective functions. They are characterized by changing their forms, proliferating and moving through fluids and tissues. The morphologic features of these cells are variable. Their origin has also been disputed by many authorities, so that several names have been coined for them. Cells are present in multiple tissues and organs and they usually appear as elements of inflammatory exudates. They have been called monocytes or transitional cells; endothelial leukocytes; macrophages by Metchnikoff; clasmatocytes by Ranvier; adventitial or leukocytoid cells by Marchand; histiocytes or polyblasts by Maximow; histoblasts by Kiyono; rhagiocrine cells by Renaut; endothelial sinusoidal cells; perithelial, mononuclear cells or phagocytes by Aschoff; resting wandering cells; Kupffer stellate cells of the liver; microglia of the central nervous system (CNS); or Horteea cells (Río-Horteea, 1919a).
The difficulty is not with cells which are morphologically similar to those described in classical anatomy, but rather with the many intermediate forms present. (Bornstein and Murray, 1958)
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Martinez, A.J. (1988). The Role of the Reticuloendothelial System in Infections of the Central Nervous System. In: Escobar, M.R., Utz, J.P. (eds) Infection. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3748-3_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3748-3_2
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