Functional part of an organ in the body. This is in contrast to the stroma, which refers to the structural tissue of organs, being exactly, connective tissues. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parenchyma ]
Term information
- UMLS:C0933845 (ncithesaurus:Parenchyma)
- EHDAA:3905
- EHDAA:3999
- EHDAA:9202
- EHDAA:9196
- EHDAA:9190
- NCIT:C74601
- EHDAA:4005
- Wikipedia:Parenchyma
- EHDAA:6903
- EHDAA:3015
- EHDAA:6994
- FMA:45732
- EHDAA:9182
- EHDAA:6899
- EHDAA:8086
Early in development the mammalian embryo has three distinct layers: ectoderm (external layer), endoderm (internal layer) and in between those two layers the middle layer or mesoderm. The parenchyma of most organs is of ectodermal (brain, skin) or endodermal origin (lungs, gastrointestinal tract, liver, pancreas). The parenchyma of a few organs (spleen, kidneys, heart) is of mesodermal origin. The stroma of all organs is of mesodermal origin
the FMA definition is more restrictive, and limits this to solid organs. This would seem to cause problems for the lung parenchyma, except FMA classifies Lung as solid rather than cavitated