7.2 HOST-MICROORGANISM INTERACTIONS - HOST RESISTANCE Flashcards
HOST RESISTANCE
Physical Barriers
Macrophages
Physical Barriers
a. Healthy, Intact Skin
b. Cleansing Mechanisms
c. Antimicrobial Substances
d. Indigenous Microbial Flora
e. Phagocytosis
→ primary mechanical barrier to infection
Healthy, Intact Skin
→has substantial numbers of microbial flora that contribute to a low pH, compete for nutrients, and produce bactericidal substances addition
Healthy, Intact Skin
→ ensures that relatively few organisms can survive and prosper in the acid environment
low pH resulting from long-chain fatty acids secreted by sebaceous glands
Spp capable of penetrating normal, healthy skin
Leptospira spp., Francisella tularensis, Treponema spp
Mechanism of urethral opening as a barrier
Stricture
This action allows the urethra to be less susceptible to microorganism growth
urination
Found in the cervical opening that acts as a barrier for microorganism
thick mucus plug
What natural process involves the shedding of the skin surface to remove potential pathogens?
Desquamation
What two antimicrobial components are found in tears?
IgA and lysozyme
How does the respiratory tract help remove trapped microbes?
Mucus traps particles and sweeps them to the oropharynx.
What type of epithelium lines the trachea and aids in clearing particles upward?
Ciliated epithelium
Which reflex helps expel potentially infected agents from the respiratory system?
Cough-sneeze reflex
What two mechanisms in the gastrointestinal tract prevent organisms from attaching to the intestinal epithelium?
Mucous secretions and peristalsis
What cleansing action in the genitourinary tract helps prevent infection?
Voiding urine
What characteristic of the vagina inhibits colonization by transient organisms?
Acidity
Cleansing Mechanisms of the body
Desquamation
IgA and lysozyme in tears
Mucus in RT
Ciliated epithelium in trachea
Cough-sneeze reflex
Mucous secretions and peristalsis of the GI tract
Voiding urine
Acidity of vagina
Antimicrobial Substances
Lysozyme
Secretory IgA
β-lysins
Interferon
→low-molecular-weight (approximately 20,000 D) enzyme that hydrolyzes the peptidoglycan layer of bacterial cell walls
Lysozyme
Lysozyme found in
serum,
tissue fluids,
tears,
breast milk,
saliva, and
sweat
→serve as opsonins, fix complement and neutralize the infecting
organism
Secretory IgA
Secretory IgA →found in
mucous secretions of the
respiratory,
genital, and
digestive tracts
Secretory IgA serve as
opsonins