[Expression of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase in the pharyngeal and palatine tonsils in local infectious and inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract and pharynx in childhood].

Along with central immune organs, the peripheral lymphoepithelial organs of the pharynx are actively involved in protecting the body from infections. Adaptive, or induced, immunity occurs during the postnatal ontogenesis of immunocompetent lymphocytes, which includes the secondary somatic recombination of the V genes with the participation of recombination-activating gene (RAG) and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (Tdt) proteins. This publication discusses the results of detection of Tdt-positive cells in the pharyngeal and palatine tonsils of children of different ages, who had been operated on for adenoid vegetations and chronic tonsillitis. Attention is drawn to the localization of Tdt+ cells, the level of Tdt expression, an attempt to clarify the phenotype, destination, and place in the diagnostic arrays of functional markers when an adaptive immunity is generated in children.