从Galen时候起,人们已经认识并描述了高等脊椎动物的胸腺在解剖学上存在,并在青春期明显萎缩。然而,直到1961年才证明胸腺是发育中的哺乳动物的免疫性中央器官。Miller和Good等的研究,开始确定了一个完整的,功能健全的胸腺是产生正常免疫反应所必需的。在胸腺的个体发育功能发现以后,Sboba和Miller证明胸腺存在着一种使机体产生免疫活性的体液组分。这一发现标志着胸腺内分泌学研究的开始。命名为胸腺素的小牛胸腺提取物,是最早证明具有生物学活性(淋巴细胞生成活性)的首批制剂之一。据初步了解的胸腺素特性,假定这种胸腺激素因子的化学本质是蛋白质 From the time of Galen, it has been recognized and described that the thymus of higher vertebrates is anatomically present and conspicuously atrophies in adolescence. However, it was not until 1961 that the thymus was proved to be a mammalian central organ of immunity. Studies by Miller and Good began to establish that a complete, well-functioning thymus is required to produce a normal immune response. After the development of the thymus’s individual development, Sboba and Miller demonstrated that there is a humoral component of the thymus that produces an immune activity. This discovery marks the beginning of thymic endocrinology research. Called thymosin, calf thymus extract was one of the first to prove biologically active (lymphopoietic activity). According to preliminary knowledge of thymosin properties, it is assumed that the chemical nature of this thymus hormone is protein