Glymphatic/lymphatic homology

Throughout the body, lymphatic fluid movement supports critical functions including clearance of excess fluid and metabolic waste. The glymphatic system is the analog of the lymphatic system in the brain. Because of the functional conservation between these systems, we hypothesize that both are regulated by circadian rhythms, and injury within these tissue (such as ischemia or inflammation) may alter interstitial fluid movement and pathology in a similar manner.

The lymphatic system in the periphery (left) and glymphatic system in the brain (right) are functionally homologous, enabling interstitial fluid movement, waste clearance, and immune surveillance of the tissue. Edited from: Hablitz and Nedergaard Current Biology 2021

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