Immunity, Inflammation, and Infection

Question 1

What makes up the first line of human defense?

Answer 1

physical, mechanical, and biochemical barriers

Question 2

What are some physical barriers?

Answer 2

endothelial linings, saliva and tears, mucus, urine

Question 3

What are some mechanical barriers?

Answer 3

coughing, swallowing, vomiting, diarrhea, cells dying off and carrying bacteria with them

Question 4

What are some biochemical barries?

Answer 4

saliva, sweat, tears, earwax (all have defensins that disrupt bacteria)

Question 5

What is our normal microbiome?

Answer 5

the microbiota existing in or on our body that play a role in immune defense

Question 6

How does our normal microbiome help immunity?

Answer 6

it protects against pathogens, aids in digestion and absorption, and release antimicrobial secretions

Question 7

Is inflammation a specific response, why?

Answer 7

inflammation is a NON-specific response, we see it used throughout immunity regardless of the trigger and it acts the same way

Question 8

What are the 4 systemic effects of inflammation?

Answer 8

1) redness
2) pain
3) heat
4) swelling

Question 9

What is the vascular portion of inflammatory response?

Answer 9

vessels will vasoconstrict to increase blood and vascular permeability in that area

Question 10

What are the predominant cells in inflammation response?

Answer 10

neutrophils, macrophages, dendritic cells, mast cells, basophils and eosinophils

Question 11

What are the three plasma protein systems?

Answer 11

complement system, clotting system, and the kinin system

Question 12

What does the complement system do?

Answer 12

the complement system signals for more cells to join it, causing a complement cascade; this ultimately leads to activation of the membrane attack complex

Question 13

What does the membrane attack complex do?

Answer 13

it initiates a response that punches holes in the membrane of pathogens so cell lysis occurs

Question 14

What does the clotting system do?

Answer 14

the clotting system lays fibrin mesh down to stop bleeding; catching pathogens for phagocytes to show up and destroy them; provide base for wound to heal from

Question 15

What does the kinin system do? How is it triggered?

Answer 15

the kinin system is triggered by the clotting system; it ends in vasodilation and increased vascular permeability/pain

Question 16

What is opsonization? How does it relate to the complement cascade?

Answer 16

opsonization is a system of coating/tagging pathogens for destruction; complement sees opsonized pathogens and knows to attack/destroy them

Question 17

How does the chemotactic factor affect the inflammatory process?

Answer 17

the chemotactic factors works to “taxi” over more immune cells; increasing inflammation in order to destroy pathogens

Question 18

What are common cellular mediators of inflammations?

Answer 18

cellular receptors, cellular products, mast cells and basophils, endothelium, platelets, and phagocytes

Question 19

What do mast cells and basophils release to trigger inflammation?

Answer 19

histamine!

Question 20

Which step in phagocytosis involves the movement of white blood cells to site of infection?

Answer 20

margination and diapedesis

Question 21

What immune cells are the first responders to infection?

Answer 21

neutrophils

Question 22

What are the steps of phagocytosis?

Answer 22

1) tissue damage, adherence, margination, diapedesis
2) recognition and attachment
3) phagocytosis

Question 23

What happens in phagocytosis?

Answer 23

phagocytes recognize pathogens, consume/engulf them, and then destroy them with enzymes

Question 24

What is primary intention wound healing?

Answer 24

the edges of a wound are pulled together for growth and heal top down; minimal tissue damage

Question 25

What is secondary intention wound healing?

Answer 25

lots of collagen is laid down due to large wound or reopening of wound and heals bottom up; lots of scar tissue forms

Question 26

What is the clinical process of infection?

Answer 26

1) incubation 2) prodromal stage 3) invasive stage 4) convalescence

Question 27

What is the incubation stage of infection?

Answer 27

the stage the individual is an asymptomatic carrier for the bacteria

Question 28

What is the prodromal stage of infection?

Answer 28

the stage where the host begins to not feel well

Question 29

What is the invasive stage of infection?

Answer 29

full blown sickness, inflammation, fever, etc.

Question 30

What is the convalescence stage of infection?

Answer 30

the illness has successfully been destroyed, host starts to feel better

Question 31

What microorganisms do natural killer (NK) cells attack?

Answer 31

they kill host cells that are infected by pathogens and tumor cells; they signal these host cells to kill themselves (apoptosis)

Question 32

What are the classes of microorganisms?

Answer 32

infectious bacteria, infectious fungi, infectious parasites, and infectious viruses

Question 33

What are infectious bacteria?

Answer 33

prokaryotic cells that cause disease through the release of toxins, invasion, or bacterial products

Question 34

What is the difference in gram-negative/positive bacteria?

Answer 34

gram-negative bacteria contain a thin-membrane; gram-positive bacteria contain a thick membrane

Question 35

When do bacteria release toxins?

Answer 35

typically when they are stressed, they release toxins as a "middle-finger" to the host that can damage and disrupt function

Question 36

What are endotoxins?

Answer 36

poisonous secretions from a bacteria that cause disease; can contribute to multi-system failure

Question 37

What kind of bacteria release endotoxins? When are they released?

Answer 37

gram-negative bacteria release endotoxins from their cell walls when the cells are lysed

Question 38

What are exotoxins?

Answer 38

poisonous secretions from a bacteria that cause disease; can cause lots of bad issues like sepsis; very dangerous

Question 39

What kind of bacteria release exotoxins? When are they released?

Answer 39

gram-positive bacteria release exotoxins when they grow

Question 40

What are infectious fungi?

Answer 40

organisms from plants or animals seen as mold or yeast in the environment (uncommon)

Question 41

Who is most susceptible to fungal infections?

Answer 41

cancer and tuberculosis patients

Question 42

What are infectious parasites?

Answer 42

organisms that live in or on a host and cause harm to them for their own benefit

Question 43

What is an issue to be aware of with parasites?

Answer 43

parasites are typically easy to treat, but it takes time for us to identify their presence

Question 44

What are infectious viruses?

Answer 44

pathogens that cause illness but infecting/hijacking cells in the host to replicate themselves via the host's replication methods

Question 45

What protects a virus's nucleic acid?

Answer 45

their nucleic acid is protected by a protein shell called a capsid

Question 46

How do we classify viruses?

Answer 46

we classify them by their nucleic acid; we have 7 classifications

Question 47

What helps viruses attach to our body cells?

Answer 47

spikes on their outer surface

Question 48

What is HIV?

Answer 48

a specific virus that attacks the body's immune system and can lead to AIDS

Question 49

How does HIV spread?

Answer 49

HIV spreads through sexual contact or contact with blood (or bodily fluids)/needles

Question 50

What is the pathogenesis (development) of HIV?

Answer 50

stage 0) the patient is an asymptomatic carrier, this stage lasts 180 days stage 1,2,3) all based off of CD4 counts, the higher the CD4 the longer you've had it

Question 51

What are some clinical manifestations of HIV?

Answer 51

fever, headaches, and fatigue (very vague symptoms)