Week 10 Flashcards
What is immune system?
A complex network of cells, tissues, organs, and the substances they make that helps the body fight infections and other diseases
What is the innate immune system?
The body’s first line of defense against germs entering the body
What is the function of the adaptive immune system?
To destroy invading pathogens and any toxic molecules they produce
What are T cells?
A part of the immune system that focuses on specific foreign particles
Where are T-cells developed?
A common lymphoid progenitor in the bone marrow that also gives rise to B lymphocytes, but those progeny destined to give rise to T cells leave the bone marrow and migrate to the thymus
Where are B cells located and what is their function?
At the centre of the adaptive humoral immune system and are responsible for mediating the production of antigen-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) directed against invasive pathogens
What is an immune response?
A reaction which occurs within an organism for the purpose of defending against foreign invaders
What is inflammation?
Part of the body’s defense mechanism
What is the body’s response to tissue injury?
The body initiates a chemical signaling cascade that stimulates responses aimed at healing affected tissues
What is acute inflammation characterised by?
Local edema, redness, tenderness and pain, increased temperature, and restricted function
What is the process of leukocyte chemotaxis?
A critical feature of the innate immune response is the movement of neutrophils and macrophages from one site in the body to another to provide effector functions
What is systemic acute inflammation?
A serious condition in which there is inflammation throughout the whole body
What is chronic inflammation also referred to?
Slow, long-term inflammation lasting for prolonged periods of several months to years
What is autoimmunity?
Sometimes the immune system makes a mistake and attacks the body’s own tissues or organs
What’s the difference between autoimmunity and autoinflammatory?
Autoinflammatory diseases are due to hyperactivation of the innate immune system. Autoimmune disease results from abnormalities of the adaptive immune system
What causes autoimmune diseases?
- Some medications
- Having relatives with autoimmune diseases
- Smoking
- Already having one autoimmune disease
- Exposure to toxins.
- Being female — 78% of people who have an autoimmune disease are women.
- Obesity
- Infections
How is self-tolerance broken?
Alloreactive cells from an animal that had been immunized with cells from the allogeneic donor before transfer; such cells probably break tolerance by killing the allogeneic donor cells
What are six tips to enhance immunity?
- Eat Well.
- Be Physically Active.
- Maintain a Healthy Weight
- Get Enough Sleep
- Quit Smoking
- Avoid Too Much Alcohol
What is the standard treatment for autoimmune or autoinflammatory diseases?
Immunosuppressive agents until the advent of immunomodulatory biologic drugs, which aimed at blocking inflammatory mediators, including proinflammatory cytokines
What are the functions of TNF-alpha blockers?
These therapies inhibit the proinflammatory action of TNF-α in common autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease
What are the limitations of anti-TNF-α therapies?
Known adverse safety risk, loss of therapeutic efficacy due to drug resistance, and lack of efficacy in numerous autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis
What are cytokines?
Small proteins that are crucial in controlling the growth and activity of other immune system cells and blood cells
What are cytokine receptors?
Cell-surface glycoproteins that bind specifically to cytokines and transduce their signals
What are the members of the cytokine superfamily?
Interleukins, chemokines, colony-stimulating factors (CSF), interferons, and the transforming growth factors (TNF) and tumor necrosis factor (TGF) familes
