Topic 6.3: The Body's Response to Infection Flashcards
What mechanism aims to destroy invading pathogens?
The Immune System where it undergoes an immune response to destroy invading bacteria.
What is Non-Specific response?
Non-Specific response help to destroy any invading pathogen.
What is Specific immunity?
Specific immunity is always directed at a specific pathogen.
What is an Antigen?
An Antigen is any molecule the body recognises as not being of it’s own self.
Non-Specific
1) Immediate
2) Causes inflammation
3) Antimicrobial proteins
4) Phagocytosis
5) Lysozyme
What is Lysozyme?
An enzyme
Where is Lysozyme found?
Tears:
To attack any bacteria on the surface of the eye.
Wash out foreign material.
Saliva and nasal secretions:
Protect the body from harmful bacteria in the air we breathe or food we eat.
What does an injury, cut or graze result in?
It enables microbes and other foreign material to enter the body.
What will a blood clot do?
A blood clot will rapidly seals the wound.
What does the inflammatory response do?
It helps destroy invading microbes.
How is Histamine released?
Through damaged white blood cells and mast cells found in connective tissue below the skin and around the blood vessels.
What does Histamine do?
It causes the arterioles in the area to dilate, increasing blood flow in the capillaries at the infected site.
Increases the permeability of the capillaries: cells in the capillary walls separate slightly so vessels leak.
When Histamine increases permeability of the capillaries, what do the vessels leak? What does it cause?
Plasma fluid, white blood cells and antibodies leak from the blood causing oedema (swelling).
After oedema occurs, what happens to the infecting microbes?
After oedema occurs, the infecting microbes can now be attacked by these intact white cells.
Why do people take antihistamine tablets?
Hay fever=allergic reaction to pollen.
Nasal tissues release histamine.
Nasal lining swells and itch.
Anti-histamine tables reduce the allergic response.
