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Infection and immunity > Definitions > Flashcards

Definitions Flashcards

0
Q

Antibody

A

A large Y-shape protein produced by plasma cells that is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as bacteria and viruses.

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1
Q

adaptive immune system

A

A subsystem of the overall immune system that is composed of highly specialized, systemic cells and processes that eliminate or prevent pathogen growth.

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2
Q

Antigen

A

Any substance which provokes an adaptive immune response. An antigen is often foreign or toxic to the body.

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3
Q

Epidemic

A

An epidemic occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience.

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4
Q

Endemic

A

An infection is said to be endemic in a population when that infection is maintained in the population without the need for external inputs. For example, chickenpox is endemic (steady state) in the UK.

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5
Q

Pandemic

A

A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that has spread through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide.

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6
Q

Inflammation

A

Complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants.

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7
Q

Latency

A

Latency period the time between exposure to a pathogen and when symptoms first become apparent

Viral latency is the ability of a virus to remain dormant

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8
Q

Mast cell

A

A mast cell is a resident granulocyte of several types of tissues that contains many granules rich in histamine and heparin.

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9
Q

Passive immunity

A

The transfer of active humoral immunity in the form of ready-made antibodies, from one individual to another.

Passive immunity can occur naturally, when maternal antibodies are transferred to the fetus through the placenta, and can also be induced artificially.

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10
Q

Toxoid

A

A toxoid is a bacterial toxin (usually an exotoxin) whose toxicity has been inactivated or suppressed either by chemical or heat treatment, while other properties, typically immunogenicity, are maintained.

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11
Q

Prokaryotic

A

A group of organisms whose cells lack a membrane-bound nucleus.

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12
Q

Eukaryotic

A

An organisms whose cells have a well defined membrane bound nucleus.

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13
Q

Exotoxin

A

A toxin secreted by bacteria.

An exotoxin can cause damage to the host by destroying cells or disrupting normal cellular metabolism. They are highly potent and can cause major damage to the host.

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14
Q

Endotoxin

A

Endotoxins are large molecules consisting of a lipid and a polysaccharide.

composed of O-antigen, outer core and inner core joined by a covalent bond; they are found in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, and elicit strong immune responses in animals.

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15
Q

Monocytes

A

They play multiple roles in immune function. Such roles include: (1) replenishing resident macrophages under normal states, and (2) in response to inflammation signals, monocytes can move quickly (approx. 8–12 hours) to sites of infection in the tissues and divide/differentiate into macrophages and dendritic cells to elicit an immune response.

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16
Q

Neutrophils

A

Neutrophils are the most abundant (40% to 75%) type of white blood cells in mammals and form an essential part of the innate immune system. Play a role in immediate pathogen digestion.

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17
Q

Dendritic cells

A

Dendritic cells are antigen-presenting cells of the mammalian immune system.

Their main function is to process antigen material and present it on the cell surface to the T cells of the immune system. They act as messengers between the innate and the adaptive immune systems.

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18
Q

Antigen presenting cells

A

An antigen-presenting cell (APC) or accessory cell is a cell that displays foreign antigens complexed with major histocompatibility complexes (MHC’s) on their surfaces

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19
Q

Basophils

A

They are similar to mast cells but circulate and can be recruited to compromised sites to secrete histamine.

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20
Q

Eosinophiles

A

white blood cells and one of the immune system components responsible for combating multicellular parasites and certain infections in vertebrates.

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21
Q

MHC II

A

occurs only on professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs): macrophages, B cells, and especially dendritic cells (DCs).

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22
Q

MHC I

A

MHC class I occurs on all nucleated cells—in essence all cells but red blood cells—and presents epitopes to killer T cells.

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23
Q

Cytokines

A

Cytokines are a broad and loose category of small proteins that are important in cell signaling. They are released by cells and affect the behavior of other cells, and sometimes the releasing cell itself.

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24
Q

Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs)

A

Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) are a primitive part of the immune system. They are proteins expressed by cells of the innate immune system to identify pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), which are associated with microbial pathogens

25
Q

PAMPs, Pathogen-associated molecular patterns

A

Pathogen-associated molecular patterns, or PAMPs, are molecules associated with groups of pathogens, that are recognized by cells of the innate immune system.

26
Q

Complement system

A

The complement system helps the ability of antibodies and phagocytic cells to clear pathogens from an organism.

27
Q

Junctional diversity

A

Junctional diversity describes the DNA sequence variations introduced by the improper joining of gene segments during the process of V(D)J recombination.

28
Q

Somatic hypermutation

A

diversifies B cell receptors used to recognize antigens and allows the immune system to adapt its response to new threats during the lifetime of an organism.

29
Q

Antigenic drift

A

A mechanism for variation in viruses that involves the accumulation of mutations within the genes that code for antibody-binding sites.

30
Q

Antigenic shift

A

Antigenic shift is the process by which two or more different strains of a virus, or strains of two or more different viruses, combine to form a new subtype having a mixture of the surface antigens of the two or more original strains.

31
Q

Antigenic variation

A

Antigenic variation refers to the mechanism by which an infectious organism such as a protozoan, bacterium or virus alters its surface proteins in order to evade a host immune response.

32
Q

Down regulation

A

Downregulation is the process by which a cell decreases the quantity of a cellular component, such as RNA or protein, in response to an external variable. An increase of a cellular component is called upregulation.

33
Q

Immunodeficiency

A

Immunodeficiency is a state in which the immune system’s ability to fight infectious disease is compromised or entirely absent. Can be primary (genetic) or secondary (acquired).

34
Q

Immunisation

A

The process by which an individual’s immune system becomes fortified against an agent.

35
Q

Adjuvant

A

A pharmacological and/or immunological agent that modifies the effect of other agents. Adjuvants may be added to vaccine to improve immune response.

36
Q

Herd immunity

A

Herd immunity occurs when the vaccination of a significant portion of a population provides a measure of protection for individuals who have not developed immunity.

37
Q

Serology

A

The scientific study of plasma serum and other bodily fluids. In practice, the term usually refers to the diagnostic identification of antibodies in the serum.

38
Q

Immunoassay

A

A biochemical test that measures the presence or concentration of a macromolecule in a solution through the use of an antibody.

39
Q

Endospore

A

An endospore is a dormant, tough, and non-reproductive structure produced by certain bacteria.

40
Q

Epidemiology

A

Epidemiology is the science that studies the patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease conditions in defined populations.

41
Q

Sporadic

A

Denoting a temporal pattern of disease occurrence in an animal or human population in which the disease occurs only rarely and without regularity.

42
Q

Outbreak

A

describes an occurrence of disease greater than would otherwise be expected at a particular time and place.

43
Q

Prevalence

A

The proportion of a population found to have a condition

44
Q

Incidence

A

Incidence is a measure of the risk of developing some new condition within a specified period of time.

45
Q

Endogenous

A

Endogenous substances are those that originate from within an organism, tissue, or cell.

46
Q

Exogenous

A

Exogenous substances are those that originate from outside an organism, tissue, or cell.

47
Q

Vector

A

An organism, often an invertebrate arthropod, that transmits a pathogen from reservoir to host.

48
Q

Nosocomial

A

An infection whose development is favored by a hospital environment, such as one acquired by a patient during a hospital visit or one developing among hospital staff.

49
Q

MMR

A

The MMR vaccine is an immunization vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella. It is a mixture of live attenuated viruses of the three diseases, administered via injection.

50
Q

Aetiology

A

The study of the cause of diseases

51
Q

Emerging infectious disease

A

An emerging infectious disease (EID) is an infectious disease whose incidence has increased in the past 35 years and could increase in the near future.

52
Q

Re emerging diseases

A

Re-emerging, or resurging, diseases are those that have been around for decades or centuries, but have come back in a different form or a different location.

53
Q

Neglected diseases

A

A group of tropical infections which are especially endemic in low-income populations in developing regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

54
Q

True pathogens

A

Pathogens which actually overwhelm the immune system

55
Q

Opportunistic pathogens

A

Pathogens that can only cause illness in immune compromised hosts

56
Q

Pathogenicity

A

Pathogenicity is the potential capacity of certain species of microbes or viruses to cause a disease.

57
Q

Horizontal spread

A

Horizontal disease transmission is the transmission of an infectious agent, such as bacterial, fungal, or viral infection, between members of the same species that are not in a parent-child relationship.

58
Q

Vertical spread

A

A vertically transmitted infection is an infection caused by bacteria, viruses or, in rare cases, parasites transmitted directly from the mother to an embryo, fetus or baby during pregnancy or childbirth.

59
Q

Cytopathic effect

A

Cytopathic effect refers to damage to host cells during virus invasion.

Infection and immunity (12 decks)

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