Immune System Primer

The Immune SystemFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immune/

Immunity is a medical term that describes a state of having sufficient biological defenses to avoid infection, disease, or other unwanted biological invasion. It involves both specific and non-specific components. The non-specific components act either as barriers or as eliminators of wide range of pathogens irrespective of antigenic specificity. Other components of the i m m u n e system adapt themselves to each new disease encountered and are able to generate pathogen-specific capability.

The Adaptive system is often sub-divided into two major types depending on how the immune challenge was introduced. Naturally acquired i m m u n i t y occurs through contact with a disease causing agent, when the contact was not deliberate, where as artificially acquired i m m u n i t y develops only through deliberate actions such as vaccination.

Both naturally and artificially acquired i m m u n i t y can be further subdivided depending on whether it is induced in the host or passively transferred from a host. Passive i m m u n i t y is acquired through transfer of antibody or activated T-cells from an i m m u n e host, and is short lived, usually lasts only a few months, whereas active i m m u n i t y is induced in the host itself by antigen, and lasts much longer, sometimes life-long. The diagram below summarizes these divisions.

A further subdivision of adaptive i m m u n i t y is characterized by the cells involved; humoral i m m u n i t y mobilizes secreted antibodies, whereas the protection provided by cell-mediated-immunity involves T-lymphocytes alone.

Humoral i m m u n i t y is active when the organism generates its own antibodies, and passive when antibodies are transferred between individuals. Similarly, cell-mediated-immunity is active when the organisms’ own T-cells are stimulated and passive when T cells come from another organism.

Graphic courtesy of Wikipedia - copyleft

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