An amöboid mobile cell of loose [[connective tissue]; with large cell body, numerous processes and high phagocytosisability.
A histiocyte is a dormant Macrophages. If this is activated (e.g. by bacteria), it transforms into a macrophage. Histiocytes and macrophages thus represent two functionally different phases of the same cell type. These mononuclear phagocytes comprise about 30 to 50% of the cells in the loose connective tissue. They derive from the monocytes of the blood, which have left the vessels by diapedesis. The resulting histiocytes and macrophages retain their ability to divide even in connective tissue, where they have a lifespan of 2-3 months and are subsequently removed by other macrophages. Their function is the phagocytosis of cell residues, bacteria and dead cells. They digest their [[lysosomes] thanks to certain hydrolytic enzymes of their [[lysosomes].
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histiozyt (Wikipedia CC-by-sa-3.0)