====== The Interstitium ======

In 2018, a research team from NYU School of Medicine published a paper in the journal //Scientific Reports//, entitled : [[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5869738/|Structure and Distribution of an Unrecognized Interstitium in Human Tissues]].{{:oa_padlock_grn.png?16}}

The paper described what is now known as the// Interstitium// - a contiguous network of interconnected fluid-filled spaces below the skin's surface. It lines the digestive tract, lungs and urinary systems, as well as surrounding arteries, veins, and the [[content:life_sciences:human_body:fascia|Fascia]]

For many years, anatomists had overlooked the interconnection of interstitial spaces - largely because of their dependence on the examination of dry, fixed tissue on microscope slides.

The fluid in the Interstitium - comprised of water and solutes, cytokines, hormones and other proteins etc. - may account for as much as 20% of the body weight.

It's now thought that the interstitium is :

  * a reservoir and transportation system for nutrients and solutes among organs, cells, and capillaries.

  * a conduit for signaling molecules communicating between cells.

  * a route for antigens and cytokines participating in immune regulation.

It's also thought that the interstitium may be of crucial importance in the progress of disease - e.g. in the transport and metastasis of cancer cells.

Much more research. however, is needed to clarify its full list of functions and their medical implications.

//Note:// Some research teams have suggested that the interstitium should be thought-of as a bodily 'organ' - though the definition of an 'organ' is at present quite vague ([[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28192867/|ref.]]), and some other researchers have rejected the idea ([[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29664145/|ref.]])

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Also see : [[content:life_sciences:human_body:mesentery]] (another recently discovered 'organ')