Human lingual tuberculosis. An ultrastructural study.

According to morphological criteria, the predominant cells from human oral tuberculosis granulomas are classified as monocytes, epithelioid cells, and multinucleated giant cells. The morphology of each cell type is related to its speculated function. It is theorized that macrophages and epithelioid cells represent an in vivo line of differentiation from undifferentiated monocytes and that giant cells form from a coalescence or syncytium of macrophages. The role of these phagocytic cells and other participating inflammatory cells in granulomatous inflammation is discussed.