The immune system Flashcards

1
Q

What 3 things does blood help to regulate?

A

-pH
-body temperature
-water content of cells

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2
Q

How does the blood prevent against blood loss?

A

Through clotting and combats microbes and toxins through the action of certain phagocytic white blood cells or specialised plasma proteins

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3
Q

What actually is blood and what is its 3 general functions?

A

-a liquid connective tissue that consists of cells surrounded by extracellular matrix
-transportation, regulation, protection

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4
Q

Explain how the blood fulfils one of its functions, transportation

A

-blood transports oxygen from the lungs to cells throughout the body and carbon dioxide from the cells to the lungs
-it also carries nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract to body cells, heat and waste products away from cells, and hormones from the endocrine glands to other body cells

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5
Q

Explain how the blood fulfils one of its functions, regulation

A

-blood helps regulate the pH of bodily fluids
-heat absorbing coolant properties of the water in blood transport and its variable rate of flow through the skin help adjust body temperature
-blood osmotic pressure also influences the water content of cells

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6
Q

Explain how the blood fulfils one of its functions, protection

A

-blood clots become gel-like in response to an injury, which protects against its excessive loss from the cardiovascular system
-white blood cells protect against disease by carrying on phagocytosis and producing proteins called antibodies
-blood contains additional proteins called interferons and complement that also help protect against disease

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7
Q

What are the physical components of whole blood?

A

-a viscosity greater than that of water
-temperature of 38 degrees
-a pH range between 7.35 and 7.45
-blood constitutes about 8% of body weight in an adult, and consists of 55% plasma and 45% formed elements

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8
Q

What are the formed elements in blood?

A

-red blood cells (erythrocytes)
-white blood cells (leukocytes)
-platelets

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9
Q

What percentage of water, proteins and solutes (other than proteins) are contained in blood plasma?

A

-91.5% water
-7% proteins
-1.5% solutes

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10
Q

What are some of the principal solutes contained in blood plasma?

A

-proteins (albumins, globulins, fibrinogen)
-nutrients
-hormones
-respiratory gases
-electrolytes
-waste products

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11
Q

What is hemopoiesis and where does it occur?

A

-formation of blood cells from pluripotent stem cells
-occurs in red bone marrow

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12
Q

What are the granular leukocytes contained in the formed element portion of the blood?

A
  1. neutrophils
  2. eosinphils
  3. basophils
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13
Q

What are the agranular leukocytes contained in the formed element portion of the blood?

A
  1. T and B lymphocytes and natural killer cells
  2. monocytes
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14
Q

What is innate (nonspecific) immunity and the first and second line of defence?

A

-includes the external physical and chemical barriers provided by the skin and mucous membranes (first line of defence against pathogens)
-also includes various internal defences such as antimicrobial substances, natural killer cells, phagocytes, inflammation and fever (second line of defence incase any pathogens get past the first line)

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15
Q

What are the 4 main types of antimicrobial substances that discourage microbial growth which are found in various body fluids?

A
  1. interferons
  2. complement system
  3. iron-binding proteins
  4. antimicrobial proteins (AMPs)
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16
Q

What is the third line of defence (nonspecific)?

A

consists of phagocytes and natural killer cells

17
Q

What is inflammation?

A

a nonspecific defensive response of the body to tissue damage

18
Q

What is a fever?

A

an elevated body temperature that intensifies the effect of interferons, inhibits the growth of some microbes, and speeds up body reactions that aid repair

19
Q

What is adaptive (specific) immunity?

A

the production of specific types of cells or specific antibodies to destroy a particular antigen

20
Q

What is an antigen?

A

any substance (foods, microbes, drugs, pollen etc) that the immune system recognises as foreign

21
Q

Where do the B and T cells involved in adaptive immunity develop?

A

in primary lymphatic organs, the red bone marrow and the thymus, from stem cells that originate in red bone marrow

22
Q

What are the two types of adaptive immunity?

A
  1. cell-mediated immunity (cytotoxic T cells directly attack invading antigens)
  2. antibody-mediated immunity (B cells transform into plasma cells, then into antibodies)
23
Q

What is clonal selection?

A

-a process by which a lymphocyte proliferates and differentiates in response to a specific antigen
-the result of clonal selection is the formation of a clone of cells that recognise the same specific antigen as the original lymphocyte
-a lymphocyte that undergoes clinical selection gives rise to two major types of cells in the clone- effector cells and memory cells

24
Q

What is the role of effector cells?

A

-they carry out immune responses that ultimately result in the destruction or inactivation of the antigen
-effector cells include helper T cells, active cytotoxic T cells, and plasma cells

25
Q

What is the role of memory cells?

A

-do not actively participate in the initial immune response
-if the antigen reappears in the body in the future, the memory cells can quickly respond to the antigen by proliferating and differentiating into more effector cells and more memory cells
-memory cells include memory helper T cells, memory cytotoxic T cells, and memory B cells

26
Q

Describe the structure of an antibody

A