5. Immunity and Host Defense Flashcards
What is the immune system
fights off foreign material that threatens the body
- protects against disease
2 Branches of immune system- specificity, memory, respond rate
- Innate
- born with it
- non-specific
- no memory component
- responds rapidly - Adaptive
- highly specific
- memory component
- responds in a few days
Can you use both branches of the immune system at the same time
yes! not mutually exclusive
Innate immune system
- protects humans from most infectious diseases
- exists at birth and always present
- natural host resistance (microbiota)
- no memory
- can be specific for a particular tissue
- physical barrier, chemical defenses, cellular defenses, molecular defenses, physiological processes
Innate: Infection site and tissue specificity
pathogens prefer a specific body site to initiate infection
- based on nutritional and metabolic needs
- mechanism of spread (aerosols vs blood/bodily fluids)
Ex of bacteria that can be ingested into deep wounds
Clostridium tetani
Innate: natural host resistance and examples
- illness from pathogens varies from one species to another
- anthrax - causes fatal blood infection in cattle and cutaneous infection in humans
- HIV - infect human cells but not mice or guinea pig
Physical barriers to infection
- Skin
- Mucous membranes
Skin
- prevents invasion by microbes
-has protein (keratin) that is thick - slightly acidic (5)
- high NaCl - for drying
What can grow on skin surface
- Some fungal infections can grow right on the skins surface (but needs broken skin to cause infection)
Mucous membranes
- line tracts in the body - resp, digestive, reproductive, urinary
- mucus produced by goblet cells - traps microbes to prevent infection
- contains microbial secretions
Mucous membranes in resp tract
- contains the mucocilliary escalator
- mucosal epithelial cells contain cilia - serve to filter incoming air
- sweeping action of cilia allows the removal of mucous and trapped microbes from the lungs
Mucous membranes in gastrointestinal tract
- stomach
- acidic (pH = 2)
- proteases - small intestine
- pancreatic juice buffers acidity of incoming contents from stomach (pH of 7) and containes enzymes
- bile from liver - large intestine
- normal microbiota
- normal resident that live symbiotically inside of the colon
- use attachment sites to stay inside colon
- competitive exclusion - consume undigested nutrients
- microbial antagonism - produce antimicrobial compounds
Mucous membranes in genitourinary tract
- contains urine - toxins that are intolerable by bacteria
- act of urinating removes these contamianting microbes
female urinary tract
- contains normal microbiota
- glycogen secreted by vagina epithelial cells supplies nutrients for microbial growth
Ex of bacteria found in female urinary tract
lactobacillus acidophilus
- ferments glucose to lactic acid
- pH of 4.5
Lymphatic system
- Composed of organs and vessels that allow immune cells to contact foreign antigenic material
Antigen
foreign material that is able to activate cells of the immune system
Components of the lymphatic system
- lymphatic vessels
- Carry lymph from the tissues to the lymph nodes (unidirectional - away from tissues)
- Lymph is rich in leukocytes (wbc) and no erythrocytes (rbc) - Lymphoid organs
- primary and secondary
Primary lymphoid organs
- Bone marrow - where leukocytes are produced
- thymus gland - some leukocytes mature here
Secondary lymphoid organs
- lymph nodes
- spleen
- MALTS (mucosa associated lymphatic tissue - mucus membrane
**These all contain high concentration of leukocytes and incoming lymph is filtered (removing microbes)
MALT and GALT
mucosa associated lymphatic tissue
gut associated lymphatic tissue - leukocytes present here are constantly phagocytosing material in their surroundings in search of foreign content
Cellular defenses: leukocytes - location
- circulate in the blood and lymphatic system
- reside in the tissues and lymph nodes
- play a role in both innate and adaptive immunity