Innate immunity: Inflammation

Question 1

What are inflammatory mediators?

Answer 1

molecules produced by sentinel cells (eg. mast cells and macrophages) in response to tissue damage or micro-organisms which cause inflammation (increase blood flow and permeability)

Question 2

What happens during inflammation?

Answer 2

-inflammatory mediators released
-local blood vessels dilate
-blood flow and permeability increases
-immune cells migrate to site of inflammation

-causes redness, heat, swelling and pain

Question 3

Types of inflammatory mediators?

Answer 3

-lipid mediators
-vasoactive amines (eg. histamine)
-chemoattractants
-complement proteins (eg. C5a)
-cytokines (eg. IL-1, TNF, interferons)

Question 4

Acute vs chronic inflammation

Answer 4

Acute - beneficial for dealing with infection/injury
Chronic - damaging, as a result of chronic infection (eg. TB) or other conditions (eg. autoimmune disease)