[The Langerhans system. Definition. Physiologic and pathologic modifications]

The Langerhans cell system including the Langerhans cell (LC), the indeterminate epidermal cell, the lymphoid interdigitating cell, and the lymph veiled cell is nowadays considered as a very peculiar subpopulation of the mononuclear phagocyte system. The authors have tried in this review to point out the main salient features, the qualitative and quantitative variations of these cells during physiological, experimental and pathological processes.