Innate Immune System Flashcards
What is the immune system?
Cells and organs that contribute to immune defences against infectious and non-infectious conditions
What is an infectious disease?
When the pathogen succeds in evading and/or overwhelming the host’s immune defences
What are the roles of the immune response?
Pathogen recognition
Containing/eliminating the infection
Regulating itself
Remembering pathogens
What is required for the immune response to recognise pathogens?
Cell surface and soluble receptors
What is the purpose of pathogen recognition?
Distinguish between infectious and noninfectious diseases
How does the immune system contain/eliminate infection?
Killing and clearance mechanisms
Why is it important that the immune system regulates itself?
To produce minimum damage to the host, leading to resolution
Why does the immune system remember pathogens?
Prevents the disease for reoccurring
What are the features of the innate immune system?
Fast
Lack of specificity
Lack of memory
No change in intensity of response to primary or secondary encounters
How fast does the innate immune system act?
Within seconds
How specific is the innate immune system?
At best it can recognise groups of bacteria
What does the first line of immune defence consist of?
Barriers that limit entry and growth of pathogens at portals of entry
What are the barriers in the first line immune defence?
Physical barriers
Physiological barriers
Chemical barriers
Normal flora
What are the physical barriers in the innate immune system?
Skin
Mucous membranes
Bronchial cilia
What is the surface area of the skin?
1-2m squared
What do mucous membranes line?
Cavities exposed to air; Mouth Respiratory tract GI tract Urinary tract
What is the purpose of bronchial cilia?
Waft trapped microbes to the pharynx for swallowing
What are the physiological barriers in the innate immune system?
Diarrhoea
Vomiting
Coughing
Sneezing
When is diarrhoea a physiological barrier?
In food poisioning
When is vomiting a physiological barrier?
Food poisioning
Hepatitis
Meningitis
When is coughing a physiological barrier?
Pneumonia
When is sneezing a physiological barrier?
Sinusitis
What are the chemical barriers to infection?
Low pH
Antimicrobial molecules
Where has low pH to resist infection?
Skin
Stomach
Vagina
What pH is the skin?
5.5
What pH is the stomach?
1-3
What pH is the vagina?
4.4
What causes the low pH of the vagina?
Lactobacillus commensal bacteria
What antimicrobials molecules consist the innate immune system?
IgA Lysozyme Mucus Beta-defensins Gastric acid and pepsin
Where is IgA found?
Tears
Saliva
Mucous membranes
Where is lysozyme found?
Sebum
Respiration
Urine
Where is mucus found?
Mucous membrane
What secretes beta-defensins?
Mucous membrane epithelia
What is the normal flora?
Non pathogenic microbes that are found in strategic locations
Where are the normal flora found?
Nasopharynx Mouth/throat Skin GI tract Vagina
Where is normal flora absent?
Internal organs/tissues
What are the benefits of the normal flora?
Compete with pathogens for attachment sites and resources
Produce antimicrobial chemicals
Synthesise vitamins
What vitamins are synthesised by the normal flora?
K
B12
Other B vitamins
What organisms are found in the normal flora of the skin?
Staphylococcus aureus Staphylococcus epidermidis Streptococcus pyogenes Candida albicans Clostridium perfringens
What organisms are found in the normal flora of the nasopharynx?
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Neisseria meningitidis
Haemophilus species
When can problems occur with the normal flora?
When normal flora is displaced from its normal location to a sterile location
How can normal flora be displaced from its normal location to a sterile location?
Breaching the skin integrity
Poor dental hygiene/dental work
Fecal-oral route
Fecal-perineal-urethral route
How can the skin integrity be breached?
Skin loss (burns)
Surgery
Injection drug uses
IV lines
What can poor dental hygiene and dental work lead to?
Bacteraemia
Give three examples of poor dental hygiene or dental work that can lead to bacteraemia
Dental extraction
Gingivitis
Brushing/flossing
What patients are at particular risk of dental related bacteraemia?
Asplenic/hyposplenic
Damaged or prosthetic heart valves
Previous infective endocarditis
When is the fecal-oral route likely?
In foodbourne infection
When is the fecal-perineal-urethral route likely?
Urinary tract infections in women
When may the normal flora become overgrown and pathogenic?
When the host becomes immunocompromised
When normal flora is depleted by antibiotics
What may cause a patient to be immunocompromised?
Diabetes
AIDS
Malignant disease
Chemotherapy