Immunity

The immune system is composed of different types of cells that can be found throughout most
organs in the body. They protect against foreign substances such as micro-organisms,
chemicals and cancerous or abnormal cells.
The Immune Response
The immune response occurs when micro-organisms or foreign substances enter the body, to
deal with the invasion and maintain homeostasis.
There are two parts of the immune response:
Humoral or antibody-mediated response
Involves the production of proteins called antibodies, which circulate around the
body and attack foreign substances.
Cell-mediated response
Involves the formation of special lymphocytes that destroy foreign substances.
Both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses involve tissue containing lymphocytes
and macrophages known as lymphoid tissue. Lymphoid tissue is found in lymph nodes, the
spleen, the thymus, the tonsils and bone marrow.
Lymphoid tissue contains two types of lymphocytes produced in the bone marrow, B cells and
T cells:
B cells provide antibody-mediated immunity
Half of the cells produced by the bone marrow remain there to mature into B
cells
T cells provide cell-mediated immunity
The other half of cells produced by the bone marrow go to the thymus where they
mature into T cells before being incorporated into lymphoid tissue.
Defence against Pathogens
Pathogens are micro-organisms that cause diseases.
There are two types of defences against pathogens entering our body:
Non-specific defences target all pathogens.
This includes things such as external defences (e.g. skin and mucous), protective
reflexes (inflammation) and blood clotting
Specific defences only target one pathogen.
This involves the production of antibodies, which are only effective against a
specific virus or bacterium.

Lymphocytes and Macrophages
Lymphocytes are cells that are involved in both non-specific and specific defence. They are a
type of white blood cell mostly made in bone marrow, but are also made in lymphoid tissue.
Macrophages are large phagocytic cells developed from white blood cells, which consume
foreign substances and micro-organisms through phagocytosis. They are also both non-specific
and specific. They are specific as they alert the immune system in the presence of foreign
substances.
Antigens are substances capable of causing a specific immune response, and therefore causing
the production of antibodies.
They are large molecules which can be made from proteins, carbohydrates, lipids or
nucleic acids, and usually involve virus particles and micro-organisms.
Toxins produced by bacteria are also considered antigens.
There are two types of antigens, self and non-self:
Self antigens are antigens that dont cause an immune
response. e.g. Blood cells produced in the body are self-
antigens, as they are not destroyed by the body.
Non-self antigens are foreign substances that do cause
an immune response. e.g. Blood cells from another
person of a different blood type will be destroyed by the
body.
Antibodies or immunoglobulins are specialised proteins made
in response to a non-self antigen. Antibodies combine with an
antigen to form an antigen-antibody complex (see diagram).
They have active sites which are specific to one type of antigen.

Antibody-mediated Immunity
Antibody-mediated immunity occurs via the antibody-mediated response. As mentioned
before, the antibody-mediated response involves the production and release of antibodies into
the blood and lymph.
This response provides resistance to
viruses, bacteria and bacterial toxins
before they enter the cell.
Lymphoid tissue contains thousands of
different types of B cells capable of
responding to a specific antigen.
Th steps involved in a specific B cells
response in the presence of a specific
antigen can be seen in the diagram.
As seen, the specific B cells enlarge and
divide into a group of cells called a clone,
mostly made up of plasma cells which
secrete antibodies to form the antign-
antibody complex, but also memory cells,
which spread throughout the body to allow
the response to occur faster the next time
it is needed.
The immune response to the first exposure
of an antigen is known as the primary
response. The primary respons is usually
fairly slow, taking a couple days to produce
enough antibodies.
Upon second exposure, the memory cells made during the first exposure are still present and
allow the secondary response to occur at a faster rate, releasing significantly more antibodies
than the first time at a much faster rate. Due to
this, symptoms often wont even show upon
subsequent exposures to the antigen.
The relative level of antibodies and rate of
production from first and second exposures can
be seen in the graph.

Responses caused by antibodies include:
Combining with foreign enzymes or bacterial toxins, or inactvating them by inhibiting
their reactions with other cells or compounds
Binding to the surgace of viruses to prevent them from entering cells
Coat bacteria in a substance allowing easy phagocytosis by macrophages.
Cause antigens to clump together, known as agglutination.
React with soluble substance to make them insoluble and allow phagocytosis

Cell-mediated immunity
Cell-mediated immunity occures via the cell-mediated response. This type of immunity
provides resistance to the intracellular phase of bacterial and viral infections, specifically
those which invade and replicate inside their hosts own cells (e.g. tuberculosis). It also plays
a role in resistance to fungi and parasites, rejection of transplants of foreign tissues, as well
as fighting cancer cells.
T cells are responsible for cellular
immunity. Like B cells, lymphoid tissue
contains thousands of different types of T
cells which are specific to one pathogen.
When a specific antigen enters the body,
the corresponding specific T cell activates,
as seen in the diagram to the right.











There are three diferrent types of T cells produced from the clone cells:
Killer T cells migrate to the site of the antigen, attach to invaded cells and secrete a
substance to destroy the antigen.
Helper T cells play a role in antibody and cell mediated immunity.
Activates or sensitizes lymphocytes (B and T cells)
Attract macrophages to the site of infection to destroy antigens via phagocytosis
Increase rate of phagocytosis in macrophages
Suppresor T cells come into effect when imune response becomes excessive or the
infection has been succesfully killed.


The following is a summary of the immune responses:

Types of Immunity
Types of immunity can be classified into two groups. The first being natural or artificial, the
second being passive or active.
Natural immunity occurs without human intervention, whereas artificial immunity results
from purposefully being given an antibody or antigen.
Passive immunity is when antibodies are given to aperson from someone else, and the person
does not actually produce the antibody themselves. This generally occurs in the womb where
antibodies are passed through the placenta to the foetus, and during breast feeding, where
antibodies are contained within the breast milk. Antibodies can also be injected directly into
the bloodstream. Active immunity is where the persons own body produces their own
antibodies in response to an antigen. This type of immunity is able to be sustained as the body
produces memory cells which allow the immune response to produce more antibodies at a
faster rate.
A summary of types of immunity:

Vaccines
Immunisation is the programming of the immune so the body can respond rapidly to infecting
micro-organisms.
Vaccination is the artificial introduction of antigens of pathogenic organisms to increase the
immunity against them, without suffering the disease.
A vaccine is the antigen preparation used in artificial immunisation. They are generally
delivered via a syringe needle, although can also be introduced orally, through inhalation and
even skin patches. There are four main types of vaccines:
Attenuated micro-organisms introducing the body to micro-organisms said to be of
reduced virulence, meaning they are less able to produce disease symptoms, so the
person does not contract the disease. Examples of these vaccines include polio,
tuberculosis and rubella.
Dead micro-organisms introducing the body to dead micro-organisms. Body is still
able to initiate immune response, but not as effectively as it would be with attenuated
micro-organisms. Examples of these vaccines include cholera, typhoid and whooping
cough.
Toxoids introducing toxins into the body that have been inactivated so they are not
able to produce symptoms, but the body is still able to initiate the immune response.
Examples of these vaccines include diphtheria and tetanus.
Sub-unit vaccines introducing the body to a fragment of the micro-organism, still
allowing the body to produce the required immune response without symptoms.
Examples of these vaccines include human papilloma virus and hepatitis B
Modern vaccines can also involve the use of recombinant DNA. This can be achieved by:
Modifying the characteristics of a pathogenic organisms DNA so it is less virulent.
Inserting DNA sequences from the pathogenic organism into a harmless bacteria cell,
which then produces antigens that are characteristic of the original pathogen, which
will provide immunity when vaccinated with.
Risks
Some of the risks associated with vaccines include:
Allergic reaction some vaccines contain allergens that affect certain people. For
example, people allergic to egg protein cant get vaccinated for the flu as they are often
produced using egg embryos.
Cross Species Transmission Carrying a pathogen from one animal used to make a
vaccine and introducing it to a human. For example, a popular theory is that AIDS was
spread from apes to human via a polio vaccine.
Chemical Preservatives Belief that preservatives such as formaldehyde, phenol,
aluminium phosphate and acetone cause damage to the nervous system. This however
unlikely due to the health approval required before a vaccine is released, ensuring that
a vaccine is safe.

Ethical Concern
Generally involves how the vaccine was manufactured:
Animal abuse for vaccine production - Viruses require living cells to reproduce,
therefore requiring a host. For example, flu vaccines are manufactured from viruses
cultured in chicken embryos. Other viral vaccines are also cultured in the brains of
mice.
Animal abuse for vaccine testing Vaccines are usually tested on mice, as well as birds,
amphibians and fish before human trials. Can often lead to suffering of the animals
being tested on as well as death.
Abortion Some viruses need human tissue for a virus to reproduce. For example,
Rubella vaccine is cultured from aborted foetuses, which is a big issue for people
against abortion.
Human vaccine testing/exploitation Medical companies go overseas to developing
countries (i.e. Africa) where people are generally uneducated and relatively unaware of
the risks of their vaccines, and will give them incentives such as food or a small amount
of money as incentive to allow them to continue using them as test subjects. This raises
the moral issue of exploiting the poor.
Censorship to children The vaccine for the STI human papilloma virus (HPV), known
to cause genital warts and cervical cancer, is generally administered at the age of 11 to
12. Some parents believe that this is exposing children to the topic of sex at too young
of an age. Others believe it could promote promiscuous behaviour due to the protection
it provides. On the other hand, supporters reinforce that it could save their lives in the
future
Antibiotics
Antibiotics are drugs used to fight infections from bacteria.
There are two types of antibiotics:
Bactericidal antibiotics kills bacteria by changing the structure of the cell
wall/membrane or disrupting enzyme activity.
Bacteriostatic antibiotics stop bacteria from reproducing by disrupting protein
synthesis.
They are also divided into two categories:
Broad spectrum antibiotics effective against many bacteria.
Narrow spectrum antibiotics effective against only one bacterium.
The ability for strains of bacteria to resist the effects of antibiotics has also been divided into
two categories:
Multiple drug resistance Strain of bacteria is resistant to most antibiotics. Generally
leads to the creation of super bugs.
Total drug resistance - Strain of bacteria is resistant to all antibiotics.

Antivirals
Antivirals are drugs used to fight infections from viruses by inhibiting the development of the
virus, rather than destroying it. Most antivirals available now are used to treat HIV, herpes,
hepatitis B and C, and influenza A and B.

Glossary
The immune system different types of cells that can be found throughout most organs in the
body that protect against foreign organism, chemicals or abnormal cells
The immune response triggered by micro-organisms or foreign substances enter the body, to
deal with the invasion and maintain homeostasis
Humoral or antibody-mediated response - Involves the production of proteins called
antibodies, which circulate around the body and attack foreign substances.
Cell-mediated response - Involves the formation of special lymphocytes that destroy foreign
substances
Lymphoid tissue tissue found in the lymph nodes, the spleen, the thymus, the tonsils and
bone marrow, containing lymphocytes and macrophages
Pathogens - micro-organisms that cause diseases
Antigens - substances capable of causing a specific immune response
Antibodies/immunoglobulins are specialised proteins made in response to a non-self antigen
Agglutination the clumping together of antigens
Immunisation - the programming of the immune so the body can respond rapidly to infecting
micro-organisms
Vaccination - the artificial is the artificial introduction of antigens of pathogenic organisms to
increase the immunity against them, without suffering the disease
Vaccine - the antigen preparation used in artificial immunisation
Antibiotics - drugs used to fight infections from bacteria
Antivirals - drugs used to fight infections from viruses by inhibiting the development of the
virus