Bronchus associated lymphoid tissue in the lungs of cattle: relationship to age.

The occurrence and morphological features of bronchus associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) were examined by light and electron microscopy in the non-pneumonic left lungs of five age groups of cattle from neonate to aged adult. The amount of BALT was correlated with age. It was absent in neonatal lungs and increased progressively with age until it declined in aged adult cattle. Within age groups the occurrence and morphology of BALT was variable. Widely scattered lymphoid aggregates were the predominant morphological type of BALT in the bovine lung. Follicular development in BALT foci was less frequent and quite variable within individual lungs. Morphologically distinct lymphoepithelium overlying BALT foci could not be demonstrated in non-pneumonic bovine lungs.