Abstract:
Objective: To show that the characteristic morphological and ultrastructural features
of a Bonghan corpuscle and duct presented here are consistent with the description
given in the early reports of Bonghan Kim.
Materials and Methods: We compared the morphological aspects of Bonghan ducts
with those of blood and lymphatic capillaries on the ultrastructural level to display
the manifestly distinctive nature of the Bonghan system.
Results: The walls of the ductules were observed to be composed of a single layer of
endothelial cells with characteristic rod-shaped nuclei and were not surrounded by
a basal lamina or by accessory cells, such as pericytes or smooth muscle cells. The
abluminal cell membranes of Bonghan ductules were not attached by anchoring filaments to the fibers of extracellular matrices as observed in lymphatic capillaries.