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TYPES OF IMMUNITY
Broadly speaking, immunity or body defense mechanism is divided into 2
types, each with humoral and cellular components:
Natural or innate immunity is non-specific and is considered as the first
line of defense without antigenic specificity. It has 2 major components:
a) Humoral: comprised by complement.
b) Cellular: consists of neutrophils, macrophages, and natural killer (NK)
cells.
Innate immune responses may adapt with exposure to the same pathogen
but subside once the threat has been eliminated. An example of innate
immunity is phagocytic cells (i.e., monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils),
which possess a number of inherently antimicrobial peptides and proteins
that kill many different pathogens rather than one specific pathogen.
Specific or adaptive immunity is specific and is characterised by
antigenic specificity. It too has 2 main components:
a) Humoral: consisting of antibodies formed by B cells.
b) Cellular: mediated by T cells.
The various components of both types of immunity are interdependent
and interlinked for their functions. The specific immune responses will in-
crease after exposure to a pathogen and usually maintain higher levels for
years. Lymphocytes (e.g., T cells, B cells) are important in the
fundamental form of specific adaptive immunity referred to as the specific
immune response. The ability of T cells and B cells to recognize specific
oligomeric structures on a pathogen and generate progeny that also
recognize the structure enables the immune system to respond more
rapidly and effectively when reexposed to that same pathogen.
INFLAMMATION
Inflammation is an observable alteration in tissues associated with
changes in vascular permeability and dilation, often with the infiltration of
leukocytes into affected tissues.
Inflammation is defined as the local response of living mammalian tissues
to injury due to any agent. It is a body defense reaction in order to
eliminate or limit the spread of injurious agent, followed by removal of the
necrosed cells and tissues.
The agents causing inflammation may be as under:
1. Infective agents like bacteria, viruses and their toxins, fungi, parasites.
2. Immunological agents like cell-mediated and antigen-antibody
reactions.
3. Physical agents like heat, cold, radiation, mechanical trauma.
4. Chemical agents like organic and inorganic poisons. 5. Inert materials
such as foreign bodies.