Immune response to infection Flashcards
What are the 4 different types of resolution of infections?
- Acute viral infection and clearance e.g. flu
- Acute viral infection/clearance and re-infection e.g. RSV
- Acute viral infection + chronic infection e.g. HIV
- Slow chronic infection e.g. CMV
What is immunological memory to RSV like?
It wanes over time so you can get re-infected by the same pathogen
What is immunological resolution to HIV like?
There is an acute phase and then the virus is suppressed by the body but it isn’t totally cleared and the viral load then slowly builds up over time
What is immunological resolution to CMV like?
There is no acute phase- there is a gradual build up of the amount of virus in the body over time
What are the two main variables that determine how well a virus will spread?
Basic reproduction number- how many people does one virus infect
Proportion of infections that occur prior to symptoms
What happens if symptoms are present before being infectious?
You can quarantine the subjects
What is an example of a disease where patients are infectious without being ill?
HIV
What causes variability in susceptibility/host response to infection?
General health and nutritional status
Previous exposure (immunological memory)
Immune deficiencies e.g. SCID, HIV, immunosuppressive drugs
Polymorphisms in innate immune genes
Polymorphisms in adaptive immune genes, particularly HLA
What are the 4 main routes of infection?
Airborne
Intestinal
Sexually transmitted
Vector borne
What are the main types of respiratory infection?
Virus- Influenza, RSV and RV
Bacterial- M.Tuberculosis, H.influenzae and S. pneumonia
Fungal- Cryptococcus and Aspergillus
What are the main types of faecal oral infection?
Virus- Hep A
Bacteria- V.Cholerae, Shigella, E. coli and S. type
Parasite- Ascaris
What are the main type of sexually transmitted infection?
Virus- HIV and HPV
Bacteria- T. palladium and N. gonorrhoeae
Fungal- Candida albicans (thrush)
What are the main types of vector infection?
Virus- Rabies virus
Parasites- Plasmodium, schistosome and trypanosoma
What are viruses?
Obligate intracellular parasites- extremely small
They have a wide variety of life cycles/genetic material and rapid mutation rate
What is the most abundant life form on earth?
Viruses
What are bacteria?
Unicellular prokaryotes
Can be intracellular or extracellular
How are bacteria classified?
They can be Gram-positive or Gram-negative based on cell membrane/cell wall composition
What are fungi?
Multicellular eukaryotes. Can be intracellular or extracellular. They often cause opportunistic infections in immunosuppressed individuals
What are parasites?
Eukaryotes
Includes:
Protozoa- unicellular
Helminths- multicellular
What are the most common types of infection?
Respiratory
What mechanisms for preventing infection at mucosal surfaces?
Mechanical- epithelial tight junctions and longitudinal flow of air or liquid
Chemical- Fatty acids, enzymes (lysozyme, pepsin)
Low pH
Antibacterial peptides
Mucus
Microbiological-
Normal flora compete for nutrients/attachment sites.
Production of antibacterial substances
What is mucus produced by?
Goblet cells
What does mucus do?
It contains mucin glycoproteins and it traps dust and pathogens which are swept upwards
What are proteolytic enzymes produced by?
Produced in the stomach (pepsin) and small bowel (trypsin, chymotrypsin and pancreatic proteases)
What do proteolytic enzymes do?
Breakdown large polypeptides into dipeptides and tripeptides. - small peptides are poor immunogens. Enzymes are cytotoxic to pathogens
What antimicrobial molecules are there?
Lactoferrin- binds iron and inhibits bacterial growth
Lysozyme- cleaves cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria
Defensives- 30-40 amino acid peptides that disrupts the cell membranes of bacteria and fungi causing lysis
What do commensal organisms do?
They compete with pathogenic bacteria for space and nutrients. They prevent colonisation of the gut by pathogenic bacteria. Commensals are also important in respiratory and genitourinary tracts
How do antibiotics affect immune homeostasis?
By killing the commensal microbes that are competing with pathogens
What do faecal transplants involve?
Killing the commensals of the GI tracts and then repopulating the GI micro biome using transplanted faeces
How effective is the skin as a physical barrier?
There is virtually no invasion by this route. The skin is colonised by potentially pathogenic bacteria. Many pathogens cause disease when the barrier is broken
What is the natural state of the digestive system?
It is colonised by large numbers of microorganisms but transient populations can cause a disease
At every part of the GI tract, microbes face a hostile environment, what does it face in the oral compartment?
Competition with well adapted normal flora of the mouth and intestine