Immune System Flashcards
Define: pathogen
any disease-causing agent
Define: antigen
any foreign substance that elicits a bodily response, especially the production of antibodies
Define: antibody
a blood protein that combines chemically with alien substances in the body in order to counteract them
Differentiate between specific and nonspecific immune defenses.
Nonspecific immune responses include 1st- and 2nd-line defenses such as the skin and mucus membranes. Specific responses, or innate immunities, remember specific viruses in order to more efficiently defer them the next time they appear in the body.
Differentiate between the first and second line of defense.
If a pathogen is able to evade the first line of defense, such as in the instance of an infection, the second line of defense then becomes activated.
List nonspecific defenses that make up the first and second line of defense in the body.
The skin, mucus membranes, and tears are al designed with an acidic surface that is intended to repel bacteria.
Outline the inflammatory response.
The inflammatory response is triggered by any damage to body tissue. When a tissue is damaged, a chemical signal, such as histamine, is released, attracting phagocytes to the area. Local increase in blood flow causes characteristic swelling. The pus that forms afterward consists primarily of dead white blood cells.
Describe the relationship between an antigen and an antibody.
Antibodies bind to antigens in order to combat them.
Compare primary and secondary specific immune response.
Primary immune responses occur when lymphocytes are exposed to an antigen for the first time, but secondary immune responses are initiated when memory cells encounter an antigen for a second time.
Outline the process of vaccination and state why it is effective in preventing disease.
Vaccination is the injection of a harmless variant of a disease-causing microbe into the body so that when an activated version of the microbe enters the body, the body stimulates defenses against it.
Compare active and passive immunity and give an example of each.
Active immunity: in which the person’s own body produces antibodies (i.e. when a virus infests the body, prompting the body to defend itself against the attacking antigens)
Passive immunity: in which a person receives premade antibodies (i.e. when a baby drinks breast milk from its mother)
Compare natural and artificial immunity.
In natural immunity, antibodies are produced by a person’s own body, but in artificial immunity, they are produced elsewhere.
