Disease, defence, and treatment Flashcards
(28 cards)
what are microorganisms and can they cause effects
Most of them are harmless but some useful
What are pathogens and 4 examples
microorganisms that cause disease such as fungi protests bacteria and viruses
What does body defences mean?
That’s our body are adapted to resist infection by microorganisms
Example examples of body defences
skin Flora bacteria that make it difficult for pathogens to become established
Intact skin is a barrier and blood clots immediately around wounds
Stomach acid and lysozyme in tears protect where skin is not present
What two types of white blood cells are in the immune system and what do they respond to?
phagocytes and lymphocytes which respond to microbes that manage to enter the body
How do phagocytes engulf and digest the microorganisms?
Microbes have proteins on their surface called antigens which phagocytes recognise as an invader hence engulfing them
phagocytes also have enzymes to help digest them
what do lymphocytes do when they recognise invading microorganisms
produce antibodies which have complementary shapes to bind to the specific antigen
What are the roles of the antibodies produced by the lymphocytes?
Mark the microbe for destruction by the phagocytes
Clump microbes together so many can be destroyed at once
Cause the destruction of the microbe
what do antitoxins produced by the lymphocytes do?
Neutralise any toxins produced by the invading micro groups
What is drug development?
Rigourous testing of new drugs which is needed to avoid side-effects
what are pre-clinical drug trials?
testing on human cells grown in a laboratory, animals or healthy human volunteers
what is clinical trials?
Testing on small groups of patients
in clinical trials, what is the placebo, blind trial, double blind trial
placebo used instead of a drug in a drug trial
Patients do not know if they have been given the drug or placebo but the doctors do
Neither patient no doctors know if the patient has been given the drug or placebo only the researchers
lymphocyte meaning
A lymphocyte recognises the antigen of an invading microorganism.
Lymphocyte produces the specific antibody to neutralise the microorganism.
The lymphocyte cell divides repeatedly producing many clones of the cell all producing the same specific antibody.
Once the microorganisms have been destroyed all the clone cells die off except a few - memory cells
what happens if you have memory cells
If the same microbe is encountered again the memory cells will recognize them and antibodies will be produced faster and in larger numbers, hopefully destroying the microbes before symptoms are felt. if no symptoms = immunity
tissue typing meaning
Tissue typing is the process of matching antigens on cell surfaces between a donor and a recipient to reduce the risk of the recipient’s immune system rejecting the transplanted tissue.
how can immunity develop
Natural Immunity can be developed if you had the disease before and your memory cells remember it so your body responds quicker by yk or by artificial immunity where you are given a vaccination which is a dead, attenuated (weakened) part of the microbe with the antigen on so your immune system can produce white blood cells and memory cells without causing the disease
what antibiotic resistance bacteria causes problems and how?
Some antibiotic resistant bacteria such as MRSA are causing problems in hospitals. This may have developed from over-use of antibiotics
How can antibiotic resistance bacteria be prevented?
Good hygiene like hand washing, alcohol gels, effective cleaning of hospital wards etc. need to be used to prevent the spread.
how are monoclonal antibodies produced?
From clone hybridoma which make them identical
How can monoclonal antibodies be used in immunoassays?
Monoclonal antibodles are made for the specific antigens on disease causing agents such as Chlamydia trachmat/s bacteria, HIV and Plasmodium. These monocional antibodies are labelled (with radioactivity or fluorescence) and added to body flulds to be tested. The extent of labelling detected indicated the extent of the Infection.
How can monoclonal antibodies be used for tissue typing?
The concentratlon of non-self-antigens in tissues is assessed.
Monocional antibodies can be used against helper T-cells (T-lymphocyles) so B-lymphocyles, normally causing rejection, are prevented from functioning.
How can monoclonal antibodies treat cancers with chemotherapy?
Monocional antibodles can be made to target cancer cell antigens (tumour markers) and carry anti-cancer drugs directly to the cells.
How can monoclonal antibodies monitor the spread of malaria?
Monoclonal antibodies specific to Plasmodium antigens are used lo test blood samples from a community. This delects Plasmodium living or dead and can show the spread of Malaria and give an indication the effectiveness of anti-malaria drugs.
