Immunity to Microrganisms Flashcards
What is innate immunity?
numerous non-specific barriers to infection that limit entry of or aid in rapid clearance of microorganisms
What are some of the major types of innate immunity?
skin, pH barriers (stomach, vagina), flushing, lysozymes, phagocytes, complement
Describe skin as a barrier
barrier to infection and produces fatty acids toxic to some bacteria
Describe pH barriers
organs such as the stomach or the vagina are acidic leading to the destruction of bacteria
Describe flushing
Many epithelial surfaces are cleaned by ciliary action or flushing such as the urinary tract
What is lysozyme?
present in tears, nasal secretions, and saliva; destroys cell walls
What are phagocytes?
macrophages and neutrophils that act to phagocytize invading pathogens without specific immune recognition.
What is complement?
can be fixed on the surface of many bacteria and yeast due to alternative pathway activation; leading to opsination or direct lysis
Where are most bacteria killed?
inside phagocyte
How do neutrophils and phagosomes know what to engulf?
they have receptors for many bacterial constituents
What is the fate of most bacteria that enter the body?
Most are killed and cannot cause disease
For the bacteria that do cause disease, how dos this occur?
Bacteria have evolved to defeat innate host defenses
What enables bacteria to evade hosts?
Virulence factors
Give examples of some virulence factors
Surviving acidic environment of the stomach (salmonella typhosa), spreading factors, toxins that inhibit or kill immune cells, antiphagocytic capsules, proteins that block opsination, antiphagocytic factors, attachment to epithelium
What is protein A
Protein produced by staph aureus that binds to and blocks opsinizing activity of IgG
What is S. pneumonia’s prime virulence factor?
antiphagocytic capsule
What bacteria can survive the acid environment of the stomach?
Salmonella typhosa
How can bacteria survive the phagosome?
Survive the digestive enzymes of the phagolysosome or prevent the fusion of the lysosomes with the phagosomes
What is the primary adaptive immune response to bacteria?
antibody
How does antibody fight bacteria?
prevent attachement to epithelium (IgA)
trigger complement leading to increased opsinization or lysis
binding to antiphagocytic M proteins or capsules, preventing the antiphagocytic activity and acting as an opsonin
kill bacteria faster thru opsinization
neutralize toxins
neutralize spreading factors like tissue damaging enzymes