Nature of the Immune System Flashcards
Define immunology.
The study of a host’s reaction to foreign substances that are introduced into the body.
Define antigen.
Foreign substances that induce a host response.
What are some examples of antigens?
Bacteria, viruses, and/or allergens.
Define immunity.
The condition of being resistant to infection.
What are the two types of immunity?
Active and passive immunity.
What is active immunity?
Includes a natural infection or through vaccination.
What is passive immunity?
When someone receives antibodies that they did not make (i.e., a newborn baby receiving antibodies through a mother’s placenta).
Define attenuation.
To make a pathogen less virulent.
Attenuation takes place through what methods?
Heat, aging, and/or chemical means.
Define innate immunity (or natural nonspecific immunity).
The individual’s ability to resist infections by means of normally present body functions (first line of defense).
Define adaptive immunity.
A type of resistance that is characterized by specificity for each individual pathogen, or microbial agent, and the ability to remember prior exposure.
What is the primary WBC in innate immunity?
Neutrophil.
What is the primary function of neutrophils?
Phagocytosis.
What is the function of eosinophils?
To use cationic proteins during degranulation that can kill large parasitic worms that would not be able to be killed through phagocytosis.
_____ don’t stay in circulation long before moving quickly to the tissues where they become macrophages.
Monocytes.
