Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
1,724,316,906 visitors served.
forum mailing list For webmasters
?
New: Language forums
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

acinus

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.03 sec.
acinus /ac·i·nus/ (as´ĭ-nus) pl. a´cini   [L.] a small saclike dilatation, particularly one in a gland; see also alveolus.
liver acinus  the smallest functional unit of the liver, a mass of liver parenchyma that is supplied by terminal branches of the portal vein and hepatic artery and drained by a terminal branch of the bile duct.
Enlarge picture
Liver acinus: hepatic lobules are represented by hexagons (solid lines); liver acinus is represented by rhombus (dotted line).
pancreatic acinus  one of the secretory units of the exocrine pancreas, where pancreatic juice is produced.
pulmonary acinus  terminal respiratory unit.
thyroid acini  see under follicle.

ac·i·nus (s-ns)
n. pl. ac·i·ni (-n)
Any of several minute grape-shaped secretory portions of an acinous gland.

a·cinic (-snk), aci·nose (s-ns), aci·nous (-ns) adj.

acinus
[as′inəs] pl. acini
Etymology: L, grape
1 any small saclike structure, particularly one found in a gland.
2 See alveolus.

acinus ( acini) (as´ins),
n 1. a saclike cavity present in a gland or the lungs.
2. a group of secretory cells of the salivary gland.
acinus, serous
n a group of serous cells producing serous secretory product such as in the salivary glands.

acinus
pl. acini [L.] any of the smallest lobules of a compound gland.

liver acinus
the smallest functional unit of the liver made up of two wedge-shaped masses of liver parenchyma that are supplied by two neighboring branches of the portal vein and hepatic artery and drained by two central veins and by terminal branches of the bile duct.


How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
Add definition
? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
The etiology of these alterations is uncertain and could be secondary to the inflammatory injury or perhaps related to direct and/or indirect (via the degree of lung injury) stimulation of irritant C-fibers in the tracheobronchial tree and/or vagal non-myelinated fibers in the pulmonary acinus (Costa and Schelegle 1999).
The terminal respiratory unit of the lung from the respiratory bronchiole to the alveolus is called the acinus.
Mercer has used serial section reconstruction to make the first precise measurements of some of the lung's tiniest structures, such as an acinus - a cluster of alveoli vented by a single airway.
 
Medical browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Medical Dictionary
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.