White blood cells Flashcards
What is a neutrophil
Innate immunity (non-specific). Ingest and kill bacteria. They are involved in the acute response to bacterial infection, inflammation and malginancy
What is an eosinophil
Seen in atopy (eczema and astham) and chronic myeloid leukaemia. They are also phagocytic and fight parasites
What is a basophil
It has a role in phagocytosis, and in hypersensitivity reactions
What is a lymphocyte
They rise in response to viral infections and in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
What is a monocyte
They kill micro bacteria and fungi and intracellular organisms by phagocytosis
What is chemotaxis
It is the movement of a motile cell or organism, or part of one, in a direction corresponding to a gradient of increasing or decreasing concentration of a particular substance
Why is differential count important
It provides data which shows the proportion on different WBC in the blood and gives evidence of different types of infection and response to treatment
Describe the events that occur in an allergic reaction
Mast cells alert immune system, induce inflammatory response, late stage response involves lymphocytes eosinophils and basophils
