Langhans giant cells are large cells found in granulomatous conditions. They are formed by the fusion of epithelioid cells (macrophages), and contain nuclei arranged in a horseshoe-shaped pattern in the cell periphery. Macrophages ( Greek: "big eaters" from makros "large" + phagein "eat" ( Mø) are cells within the tissues that In Cell biology, the nucleus (pl nuclei; from Latin la ''nucleus'' or la ''nuculeus'' "little nut" or kernel is a membrane-enclosed Their presence could indicate tuberculosis or other mycobacterial infection. Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or T u' b' erculosis Bacillus --> is a common Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM also known as environmental mycobacteria, atypical mycobacteria and mycobacteria other than tuberculosis (MOTT are

Granulation tissue with a poorly formed granuloma to the left of centre. Within this area there is a multinucleate giant cell of the Langhans type. The patient had a healing mycobacterial infection of the skin (M. ulcerans infection)

They should not be confused with Langerhans cell. Not to be confused with the Beta cells making up the Islets of Langerhans. According to MeSH, Langhans giant cells are macrophages, but Langerhans cells are not. Medical Subject Headings ( MeSH) is a huge Controlled vocabulary (or metadata system for the purpose of indexing journal articles and books Macrophages ( Greek: "big eaters" from makros "large" + phagein "eat" ( Mø) are cells within the tissues that "Langerhans" may also refer to the Islets of Langerhans that are found in the pancreas. The pancreas is a Gland organ in the digestive and Endocrine system of Vertebrates.

Langhans giant cells are named for Theodor Langhans (1839-1915), a German pathologist ^[1]

References

• http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Langhans (link to German Wikipedia)

External links

• MeSH Langhans+giant+cells
• Histology at ohio-state.edu
• Histology at jhu.edu