Clinical Immunology Flashcards
What are the 4 sources of infection?
Bacteria, parasites, fungus and viruses
What is the immune system?
bodies natural defence against pathogens
What can the immune system do?
Identify threats, mount an attack, generate immunity and eliminate the threat
What are the challenges to fighting bacteria?
These can be both intracellular or extracellular and you also get commensals which you do not want to destroy
What are the challenges to fighting parasites?
These are multicellular, extracellular organisms which are hard to deal with cause immune cells are so small
Are fungus intra or extracellular?
Extracellular
Are viruses intra or extracellular?
Intracellular
What happens if the immune system gets it wrong and starts attacking yourself?
Autoimmunity
What is the first line of defence?
Physiological and physicals barriers - Skin, mucous membranes, cilia, body temperature, pH and enzymes
If pathogens get through the first line of defence what reaction occurs?
The innate immune system
What cells are part of the innate immune system?
Neutrophil, basophil, eosinophil, mast cell, macrophage, dendritic cell and NK cells
What cell forms a bridge between innate and adaptive immunity?
Dendritic cells
What cells are part of your adaptive immune system and are these specific?
Helper T cells,
Cytotoxic T cells,
B cells,
Plasma cells,
And yes
How do immune cells migrate through the body
Lymphatic vessels
How does your skin have low pH?
Sebum which is secreted by the sebaceous glands in the skin consist of fatty and lactic acid which keeps the skin at a pH or 3 - 5
What enzymes do you have in sweat and what do these do?
Lysozyme cleaves bacteria cell wall and proteoglycans
What does normal microbiota produce?
Anti-microbial surfaces to compete for nutrients and attachment to epithelial kill bacteria on their skin so they have more to eat
Is the innate immune system antigen specific?
No
What do NK cells do?
They are cytotoxic so they can kill infected or cnacerous cell
What do macrophages and phagocytes do?
Engulf other cells via phagosytosis
Is the adaptive immune response antigen specific?
Yes
How are T cells triggered?
They require presentation from professional antigen presenting cells (usually dendritic cells) in order to recognise their cognate antigen and undergo activation and clonal expansion.
What do mast cells do?
They degranulate and damage large pathogens such as worms
What do B cells and plasma cells do?
release antibodies
What signal is triggered so that the immune system knows what is self and what is not?
Danger signals - toll like receptors