Editing Lymphatic system (section)

== Function ==
The lymphatic system has multiple interrelated functions:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lymphnotes.com/article.php/id/151/|title=The functions of the Lymphatic System. | work = lymphnotes.com  |access-date=Feb 25, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hu |first1=Dan |last2=Li |first2=Long |last3=Li |first3=Sufang |last4=Wu |first4=Manyan |last5=Ge |first5=Nana |last6=Cui |first6=Yuxia |last7=Lian |first7=Zheng |last8=Song |first8=Junxian |last9=Chen |first9=Hong |date=2019-08-01 |title=Lymphatic system identification, pathophysiology and therapy in the cardiovascular diseases |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yjmcc.2019.06.002 |journal=Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology |volume=133 |pages=99–111 |doi=10.1016/j.yjmcc.2019.06.002 |pmid=31181226 |s2cid=184485255 |issn=0022-2828}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Munn |first1=Lance L. |last2=Padera |first2=Timothy P. |date=2014-11-01 |title=Imaging the lymphatic system |journal=Microvascular Research |series=SI: Lymphatics in Development and Pathology |language=en |volume=96 |pages=55–63 |doi=10.1016/j.mvr.2014.06.006 |issn=0026-2862 |pmc=4268344 |pmid=24956510}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chong |first1=Chloé |last2=Scholkmann |first2=Felix |last3=Bachmann |first3=Samia B. |last4=Luciani |first4=Paola |last5=Leroux |first5=Jean-Christophe |last6=Detmar |first6=Michael |last7=Proulx |first7=Steven T. |date=2016-03-10 |title=In vivo visualization and quantification of collecting lymphatic vessel contractility using near-infrared imaging |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=22930 |doi=10.1038/srep22930 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=4785392 |pmid=26960708|bibcode=2016NatSR...622930C }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Yufan |last2=Zhang |first2=Juxiang |last3=Li |first3=Xiaowei |last4=Li |first4=Jingru |last5=Lu |first5=Shuting |last6=Li |first6=Yuqiao |last7=Ren |first7=Panting |last8=Zhang |first8=Chunfu |last9=Xiong |first9=Liqin |date=2022-06-01 |title=Imaging of fluorescent polymer dots in relation to channels and immune cells in the lymphatic system |journal=Materials Today Bio |language=en |volume=15 |pages=100317 |doi=10.1016/j.mtbio.2022.100317 |issn=2590-0064 |pmc=9213818 |pmid=35757035}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Schineis |first1=Philipp |last2=Runge |first2=Peter |last3=Halin |first3=Cornelia |date=2019-01-01 |title=Cellular traffic through afferent lymphatic vessels |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1537189118300971 |journal=Vascular Pharmacology |series=Pioneering updates in vascular biology |language=en |volume=112 |pages=31–41 |doi=10.1016/j.vph.2018.08.001 |pmid=30092362 |s2cid=51955021 |issn=1537-1891}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chavhan |first1=Govind B. |last2=Lam |first2=Christopher Z. |last3=Greer |first3=Mary-Louise C. |last4=Temple |first4=Michael |last5=Amaral |first5=Joao |last6=Grosse-Wortmann |first6=Lars |date=2020-07-01 |title=Magnetic Resonance Lymphangiography |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcl.2020.02.002 |journal=Radiologic Clinics of North America |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=693–706 |doi=10.1016/j.rcl.2020.02.002 |pmid=32471538 |s2cid=218943574 |issn=0033-8389}}</ref>
* It is responsible for the removal of <!--"excess"--this gives a wrong impression that the removal of interstitial fluid is an occasional event, which it is not. KC Panchal--> [[interstitial fluid]] from tissues
* It absorbs and transports [[fatty acid]]s and [[fat]]s as [[chyle]] from the digestive system
* It transports [[white blood cells]] to and from the lymph nodes into the bones
* The lymph transports [[antigen-presenting cell]]s, such as [[dendritic cells]], to the lymph nodes where an immune response is stimulated.

===Fat absorption===
[[File:Nutrient absorbtion to blood and lymph.png|thumb|280x280px|Nutrients in food are absorbed via [[Intestinal villus|intestinal vili]] (greatly enlarged in the picture) to blood and lymph. Long-chain [[fatty acid]]s (and other [[lipid]]s with similar fat solubility like some medicines) are absorbed to the lymph and move in it enveloped inside [[chylomicron]]s. They move via the thoracic duct of the lymphatic system and finally enter the blood via the left subclavian vein, thus bypassing the liver's [[First pass effect|first-pass metabolism]] completely.]]
[[Lymph vessel]]s called [[lacteal]]s are at the beginning of the [[gastrointestinal tract]], predominantly in the small intestine. While most other nutrients absorbed by the [[small intestine]] are passed on to the [[portal venous system]] to drain via the [[portal vein]] into the [[liver]] for processing, fats ([[lipids]]) are passed on to the lymphatic system to be transported to the blood circulation via the [[thoracic duct]]. (There are exceptions, for example [[medium-chain triglycerides]] are fatty acid esters of glycerol that passively diffuse from the GI tract to the portal system.) The enriched lymph originating in the lymphatics of the [[small intestine]] is called [[chyle]]. The nutrients that are released into the circulatory system are processed by the [[liver]], having passed through the systemic circulation.

===Immune function===
The lymphatic system plays a major role in the body's immune system, as the primary site for cells relating to [[adaptive immune system]] including [[T-cell]]s and [[B-cells]].

Cells in the lymphatic system react to [[antigen presentation|antigens presented]] or found by the cells directly or by other [[dendritic cells]].

When an antigen is recognized, an immunological cascade begins involving the activation and recruitment of more and more cells, the production of [[antibody|antibodies]] and [[cytokines]] and the recruitment of other immunological cells such as [[macrophages]].