Microbiology Exam Final Review Flashcards
What is the definition of infection?
entry or growth of mircoorganisms of a host and can have one of two outcomes
What are the two possible outcomes of infection?
- disease: microorganism produces symptoms and causes damage
- colonization: when microorganisms persist without causing disease
What is the difference between a primary pathogen and an opportunistic pathogen?
- Primary pathogen: regularly causes disease in at least some individuals with normal defenses
- Opportunistic pathogen: usually doesn’t cause disease except in people with compromised defenses (p. originosa)
What is the definition of virulence?
Degree of pathogenicity
What is a virulence factor?
- specific properties of a pathogen that promote infection/disease
- high resistance to pathogen=means pathogen has a low virulence
From an ecological perspective, what types of symbiotic associations between different organisms can occur, and what type does a pathogen host interaction represent?
Symbiosis:
- ecological perspective on an disease
- 2 or more organisms living together in close association
Mutualism, commensualism, parasitism
Mutualism
both organisms benefit (ex, lichens)
Commensualism
one organism benefits and other is not affected (ex. bactria in GI tract)
Parasitism
- One organism benefits (parasite) at expense of other (host)
- changes in parasite or host may alter balance between health and diseases
What are the portals of entry into the host?
- microbial entry into host
- 1st step in infection
Examples: respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, genitourinary tract, skin wounds, eyes and ear, placenta
What are the specific virulence factors discussed in lecture?
capsule, toxin, toxin: a. endotoxin, toxin: b. exotoxin, extracellular enzymes
What 2 microbial activities do many virulence factors promote during growth and spread of the microbe within the host?
- scavenge nutrients (e.g., siderophores)
- penetrate host tissues (e.g., invasins)
- counter host defenses (e.g., IgA proteases)
What is the difference between endotoxin and exotoxins?
- endotoxin is a lipopolysaccharide: Shedding of endotoxin induces fever (Salmonella tyhi)
- exotoxin is a soluble protein
What are the five different types of exotoxins discussed in lecture?
botulinum neurotoxin, cholera enterotoxin, diphtheria cytotoxin, hemolysins, leukocidins
Exotoxin botulinum neurotoxin
blocks neurotransmitter release (Clostridium botulinum)
Exotoxin cholera enterotoxin
promotes massive fluid loss from intestinal epithelium (Vibrio cholerae)
Exotoxin diphtheria cytotoxin
kills cells by inactivating translation
Corynebacterium diphtheriae
Exotoxin hemolysins
lyse red blood cells by forming pores in membranes (Streptococcus pyogenes)
Exotoxin leukocidins
lyse white blood cells by forming pores in membranes
Staphylococcus aureus
How do microorganisms attach to the surface tissues of the host?
pili and other (non-pilus) adhesins
What are the major physical and chemical barriers to infection?
Tissue integrity, flushing mechanisms, antimicrobial substances
What are examples of antimicrobial substances produced by specific host cells and tissues?
- Cationic antimicrobial peptides,
- antibacterial fatty acids in perspiration,
- lysozyme in tears and saliva,
- lactoferrin in tears, saliva, and milk, gastric acid in stomach,
- bile salts in intestine, antiviral proteins in tissues,
- antimicrobial proteins in blood and lymph,
- transferrin in blood and lymph
Tissue integrity (physical and chemical barriers)
- Unbroken skin and mucous membranes
- Sloughing cells (removes adherent bacteria)
- Mucus secretion (traps microorganisms)
Flushing mechanism (physical and chemical barriers)
Urination, peristalsis, coughing, sneezing, perspiring, tearing, salivating
Antimicrobial substances (physical and chemical barriers): Cationic antimicrobial peptides
- (defensins and cathelicidins)
- Positive
- Bond to the negatively charged bacteria, basically lyse the bacteria because they open pores in the membrane and lyse it
Antimicrobial substances (physical and chemical barriers): Lysozyme
- found in tears and saliva (degrades peptidoglycan)
- Breaks the bond between the NAM and the NAG, if there is no wall barrier water can rush in and burst
Antimicrobial substances (physical and chemical barriers): Gastric acid in stomach has a….
low pH
Antimicrobial substances (physical and chemical barriers): bile salts
found in intestine (detergent action)
Antimicrobial substances (physical and chemical barriers): antiviral proteins
- (interferons) in tissues
- interferons are produced by cells
Antimicrobial substances (physical and chemical barriers): Antimicrobial proteins
- found in blood and lymph
- B-lysins and complement
Antimicrobial substances (physical and chemical barriers): transferrin
found in blood and lymph (binds iron)
What are the major biological barriers to infection?
Biological barriers: Genetic resistance (species, subspecies, and individual), normal microbiota, phagocytosis, inflammation
In what ways does the normal microbiota benefit the host?
Protects the host by: -limiting nutrient availability
- preventing pathogen attachment to host cell surfaces
- synthesizing antimicrobial agents (e.g., bacteriocins)
What are the four steps in the phagocytosis process?
- Chemotaxis
- attachment
- engulfment
- digestion
Phagocytosis process: chemotaxis
- Microorganism releases some type of compound and the compound serves as chemoattractants
- Chemoattractants follow the trail back to the site of the infection
Phagocytosis process: attachment
When white blood cell comes into contact with the bacteria
Phagocytosis process: engulfment
Membrane pinches off in a vacuole, and referred to as a phagosome
Phagocytosis process: digestion
- Lysosomes are packed with enzymes like protiases and halogens and superoxide generating molecules
- Phagosytic cells clean up damage from host cells, like vaccum cleaners
What are the 3 major types of cells in whole blood?
- erythorcytes (red blood cells) that carry oxygen to other body tissues, hold hemoglobin
- leukocytes (white blood cells)
- thromobocytes (platelets)
How are leukocytes further classified according to their appearance in the Wright stain?
- White blood cells stain different colors
- Can categorize them into different sub categories
- Can distinguish some white blood cells if they have a lot of granuales, and the granuales have little speckles on them
- Called granulocytes: basophils, eosinophils, neutrophils (first cells that are there when there is damage or infection and start the inflammatory response) (they are also phagosytic)
- Agranulocytes: monocytes and lymphocytes
What is the fluid portion of blood called (a) before and (b) after the clotting factors are removed?
- Plasma: the fluid portion of blood after the cells are removed
- Serum: the fluid portion of blood that remains after the cells and clotting factors are removed (by letting them coagulate naturally)
What are mediators in the inflammation response, and what specific examples were mentioned in lecture?
Cells in damaged tissues release mediators (histamine (benadryl), bradykinin, prostaglandins, leukotrienes, serotonin).
What are the three basic characteristics of adaptive immunity?
- Recognition of self from non self
- Memory of past infections
- Specificity (adaptive immunity is a specific response whereas inflammation is non specific response) (each virus or infection is different, and the body will recognize the specific action needed to get rid of it)
What is autoimmunity, and what specific examples of autoimmune diseases were discussed in lecture?
- An immune response triggered against the body’s own tissues
- Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematosus, rheumatic fever, autoimmune uveitis, multiple sclerosis, alopecia
What is an antigen?
-Any molecule that is immunogenic (induces an immune response)
What is an epitope, and how many epitopes does a good antigen usually need to have?
- Patches that the immune system does recognize
- To be a good antigen, it needs multiple epitopes
- Found in animal
- Immune system does not recognize the entire cell but recognizes small patches called epitopes
What is an antibody?
soluble proteins that are synthesized in response to the presence of an antigen. They recognize and bind to the antigen at specific epitopes
What can an antibody also be called?
immunoglobulins (lg) (another name for antibodies)
What is the structure of an antibody molecule?
- 4 polypeptide, 2 light and 2 heavy chains that are all connected by the disulfide bonds
- 4 separate amino acid chains, 2 longer chains than the other one
- The two shorter amino acids are half the size of the longer amino acids
- 2 longer chains are called heavy chains and 2 shorter chains are called light chains
- The two heavy chains are covalently linked together by disulfide bond and there may be more than two disulfide bonds
- The light chains are also covalently attached to heavy chains
- The amino acid sequence will be the same in all antibodies for about 3/4ths up the chain
- Constant region- lower half of the light chains/ constant region
- Variable region- higher half of the light chains
What are the 5 classes of antibodies?
IgG, IgM, IgA, IgD, IgE
Function of Antibody Class: IgG
- is the most abundant antibody in blood serum. Maternal IgG confers immunity to the fetus and in newborns
- Depends on mother to provide protections
- IgG has the ability to cross the placenta and go to the baby and protect it
- The unborn child does have antibodies and most of them are IgG, usually not until after birth does the child start making its own antibodies
- Major response that comes along a bit later after IgM
Function of Antibody Class: IgM
- is the earliest antibody to appear in blood serum during a primary immune response
- They are the first to get to an antigen, rapid deployment force of the immune system
- First responders
Function of Antibody Class: IgA
- is the major antibody found in secreted body fluids (mucus, saliva, urine, tears, and breast milk).
- Like a UTI infection, IgA is usually the one that goes to help fight the infection
- Gonorrhea
Function of Antibody Class: IgD
-is involved in activating antibody production during a primary immune response
-Very small amounts
Thought to have helped with antibodies in infants???
Function of Antibody Class: IgE
participates in allergic reactions
What are the 5 different types of antigen-antibody reactions?
precipitation, agglutination, complement fixation, opsonization, neutralization
Antigen-Antibody Reactions: Precipitation
antibodies react with soluble antigens and form aggregates that precipitate out of the solution
Antigen-Antibody Reactions: Agglutination
- antibodies react with particulate antigens, causing cells to agglutinate (clump).
- Instead of participation you get a clumping type of action called aglutination reaction
- Getting them out of the solution, and makes it easier for the phagosytic cells to consume the antigen
Antigen-Antibody Reactions: Complement fixation
- binding of antibodies to participate antigens activates complement (a set of blood serum proteins) to lyse the microbial cell.
- What happens when the antibodies bind to the bacterial cells, can lyse the bacterial cell
Antigen-Antibody Reactions: Opsonization
- antibody binding stimulates phagocytosis
- Comes from the Greek word meaning to prepare food, really it is preparing it for phagocytosis
Antigen-Antibody Reactions: Neutralization
- antibody binding blocks the harmful activities of exotoxins, viruses, etc…
- Toxins like botulism
- If you bind antibodies to them, it blocks them from being a toxin and the virus can no longer attach to a host cell and cannot reproduce
- When the antibodies bind to it then it blocks the toxins or viruses from being harmful and it neutralizes it
What is the difference between humoral immunity and cell-mediated immunity?
Humoral immunity functions primarily for the defense of body fluids
- Humor is a body fluid such as blood, lymph, etc… (Latin for "moisture") - Humoral immunity is mediated by soluble factors in the body fluids. Cells of the immune system are involved only indirectly.
- Cell mediated immunity functions primarily for the defense of body tissues.
- Cells of the immune system are involved directly.