L2.2 immune system and disease Flashcards
what is a disease
loss of symptomatic loss of homeostasis, all disease in some way has communication to the immune system and the incorrect functioning of it
what is inflammation
happens in response to damage or injury of vascularised tissues to eliminate dying cells & foreign bodies
what causes an infection
host innate response fails to clear infection
why are effectors a problem?
what type of feedback loop is this?
these can exacerbate disease, sensors recruit more effectors, trying to clean an infection the effectors are driving
examples of what are the pathological consequences of inflammation
- gout
- metabolic syndrome
- cholesterol crystals
what is an example of a virus that has evolved with the immune system
Epstein-Barr
what type of virus is very error prone
RNA viruses
antigenic drift is
point amino acid mutations, these are the drivers of seasonal variation
what is antigenic shift
significant alteration in the sequence
how does HIV progress to AIDS
HIV affects the immune cells such as T cells, gets to hide and kill cells . Integration into host genome allows both efficient viral replication
what is autoimmunity
an immune response against self-antigen which is mistakenly seen as “foreign” examples are Crohn’s disease
how does chronic autoimmune diseases develop
- positive feedback from inflammation
- inability to clear the self-antigen
- broadening of the autoimmune response
what are the treatments for autoimmunity
costimulatory blockage
monoclonal antibodies
what are immunodeficiencies and what causes them?
state in which the immune system’s ability to fight infectious diseases and cancer is compromised or entirely absent. result from gene mutations
what are primary immunodeficiencies
congenital
