Immunopathology Flashcards
What is the function of the immune system?
to protect animals from pathogens and prevent the development of cancers
What are the two components of the immune system?
- innate immunity
2. adaptive immune system
What are two characteristics of the innate immune system?
- it is present before infection occurs and does not need to have previous exposure to the pathogen
- it is able to recognize microbes and protect multicelluar organisms from infections
What are the 4 major components of the innate immune system?
- barriers:
- physical barriers:
- physiological barriers (pH, temperature)
- static barriers (epithelial surfaces)
- kinetic barriers (cilia clearing the resp tract or peristalsis)
- biological barriers : normal flora that competes and inhibits with microbes
- chemical barriers: hydrochloric acid killing microbes
- physical barriers:
- Acute phase response: acute phase proteins, systemic reactions like fever, anorexia, chills, and systemic hypoferremia (withholding iron from pathogens and decreasing the production of free radicals)
- Humoral innate immunity:
- microbicidal components like MAC or defensins and lysozymes secreted
- microbiostatic components (stops the growth of microbes) like metal binding proteins
- opsonins: lectins like mannose binding lectin, C reactive proteins
- acute phase proteins - Cellular innate immunity:
- phagocytes
- natural killer cells
What are two characteristics of adaptive immunity?
- stimulated by previous exposure to microbes (has memory)
- capable of also recognizing non microbial substances like antigens
-it is slower to develop (if no memory) but much more effective
What are the two main types of adaptive immunity? (what cell types)
- cellular immunity (T lymphocytes). it defends against intracellular microbes that have been presented to it from the B cells
- humoral immunity (b lymphocytes). defends against extracellular microbes and their toxins by recognizing the microbes, binding to them, engulfing and degrading them so that the microbe can be presented to the T cell
What are the two types of immune deficiency disorders?
- primary (inherited) immunodeficiency - rare in animals
2. secondary (acquired) immunodeficiency - much more common in animals
Name some primary immunodeficiencies
- Chediak-Higashi syndrome
- Leukocyte adhesion deficiency
- Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID)
Describe Chediak-Higashi syndrome
- occurs in Hereford cattle and Persian cats
- there is abnormal lysosomal binding so what is being phagocytosed isn’t being killed
- may also get abnormal pigmentation of melanocytes so get albino animal
- microscopically, there will be large neutrophils and large granules within them because it is unable to degrade anything
Describe Leukocyte adhesion deficiency
- occurs in irish setters and Holsteins
- there is a defect in b2 integrin so the neutrophils within the blood vessels are unable to bind to the endothelial cells and exit into the infected tissue. Since they are unable to decrease the infection there is still stimulus to increase the amount of neutrophils
- get persistent neutrophilia
- cattle can develop severe gingivitis, oral ulcers etc and abscesses that lack pus formation
- histologically there is lower amount of neutrophils in tissue and high amounts within the blood
Describe SCID
- occurs in Arab foals, dogs and cats
- there is a defect in both the humoral and cell mediated acquired immune system
- in Arabs, it doesn’t show up until the foal does not have passive immunity any more so it results in fatal respiratory and GIT infections
- will have small or absent thymus
Name some secondary immunodeficiencies
- failure of passive transfer
- animal immunodeficiency viruses
- lymphotropic viruses
Describe failure of passive transfer
- most common immunodeficiency disorder!
- neonates rely heavily on immune protection from their mothers colostrum and milk (esp. horses and ruminants because their placenta is impermeable to immunoglobins). these neonates are both hypogammaglobulinemic so they need colostrum to get immunoglobins within the first 24 hours.
- if they fail to do so then they have a high chance of getting septicaemia, meningitis polyarthritic or polyserositis
Describe animal immunodeficiency viruses
- FIV: when they get the virus, there is an asymptomicatic period while there is progressive loss of T lymphocytes, resulting in immunodeficiency with chronic and recurrent infections which are eventually fatal. First sign may appear as gingivitis
- biting is main mode of transmission
Describe lymphotropic viruses
Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV). present in 40% of herds
- both epitheliotropic and lymphotropic
- causes erosions of upper alimentary tract like mouth esophagus and rumen, interdigital areas and causes lymphoid depletion
- get corrugation of intestine
- if cow that is normal gets virus then there may not be any symptoms but if an immune difficient cow gets it while she is pregnant then there may be various signs depending on stage in pregnancy
Canine parvovirus and feline panleukopenia affect proliferating cells.
- destoys cryptal epithelial cells in small intestine (because they divide), and bone marrow cells (causing a lack of WBC) and peyers patches
- get bloody diarrhea, hyperaemia and ulcerated intestinal tract