The Lymphatic/Immune System and Its Disorders
Walter F. Stanaszek, Mary J. Stanaszek, Robert J. Holt, Steven Strauss in Understanding Medical Terms, 2020
When any part of the immune system is suppressed, as by drugs that cause leukopenia, any lymphadenopathy (disease of the lymph nodes), or lymphangitis (inflammation of the lymph vessels), the individual may become immunocompromised. The objective of the immune system is to identify and remove foreign invasion. The body, however, is capable of developing antibodies and sensitized lymphocytes directed against components normally present in the individual. Autoimmunity (immunity to one's self) leads to a number of conditions, depending on the tissues to which the immune system reacts. The most common disorders related to the immune system are those in which immunity itself becomes a problem for the individual, which is the case with hypersensitivity, an immune reaction that is exaggerated or unwanted. The most common diagnostic technique employed to evaluate the immune system is laboratory examination of the blood to determine the complete blood count with differential.
The Immune System
Eryl Liddell, Ian Weeks in Antibody Technology, 2020
The various systems of the mammalian organism are potentially at risk of infiltration by a wide variety of infectious micro-organisms. The innate immune system comprises a variety of cells and humoral factors. Antibodies are glycoprotein molecules known as immunoglobulins. The molecules can be described as possessing both variable and constant regions, the latter being reasonably similar structurally within all antibodies within that class. The different subclasses of immunoglobulin are characterized particularly by differences in the number and position of inter-chain disulfide bridges. It is not possible for each particular antibody specificity to be derived from a dedicated gene since there is simply not enough space in the genome to code for every conceivable antibody. Immunoglobulin class and subclass is described by the heavy chain constant region. Regulation of the immune response as a whole is clearly important.
Cytokines as Immune System-Cns Mediators: Is Fatigue Mediated by The Cns Effects of Cytokines?
Alan J. Husband in Psychoimmunology CNS-Immune Interactions, 2019
The perceptual abnormality of fatigue experienced by subjects with chronic persistent fatigue (CFS) may be mediated by a central effect of interferon. Cytokines are low molecular weight polypeptide molecules secreted by cells following activation by antigens, mitogens or other stimuli. Cytokines are believed to have their major mode of action as either paracrine, autocrine or less often endocrine hormones. The immunological abnormalities found in patients with CFS suggest that the products of a perturbed immune system, particularly cytokines produced when the immune system is activated, participate in the pathogenesis of CFS. Cloning of cytokines and their receptors has allowed more carefull study of the physiological control mechanisms involved in the regulation of cytokine activity. Cytokines such as Interleukin (IL)-1 may be rapidly inactivated in body fluids as a result of the action of inhibitory proteins such as IL-1 receptor antagonist.
The Role of the Immune System in Ovarian Cancer and Implications on Therapy
Published in Expert Review of Clinical Immunology, 2016
Gulden Menderes, Carlton L. Schwab, Jonathan Black, Alessandro D. Santin
Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic malignancy in the United States. While the treatment options have improved with conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy and advanced surgical techniques, disease recurrence is common and fatal in nearly all cases. Current evidence suggests that the immune system and its ability to recognize and eliminate microscopic disease is paramount in preventing recurrence. The goal of immunotherapy is to balance the activation of the immune system against cancer while preventing the potential for tremendous toxicity elicited by immune modulation. In this paper we will review the role of immune system in disease pathogenesis and different immunotherapies available for the treatment of ovarian cancer as well as current ongoing studies and potential future directions.
Cancer immunotherapy: dawn of the death of cancer?
Published in International Reviews of Immunology, 2020
Cancer is one of the proficient evaders of the immune system which claims millions of lives every year. Developing therapeutics against cancer is extremely challenging as cancer involves aberrations in self, most of which are not detected by the immune system. Conventional therapeutics like chemotherapy, radiotherapy are not only toxic but they significantly lower the quality of life. Immunotherapy, which gained momentum in the 20th century, is emerging as one of the alternatives to the conventional therapies and is relatively less harmful but more costly. This review explores the modern advances in an array of such therapies and try to compare them along with a limited analysis of concerns associated with them.
Diagnostic biomarkers are hidden in the infected host’s epigenome
Published in Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics, 2013
Maria M Esterhuyse, Stefan HE Kaufmann
The success of our immune system depends on its ability to react efficiently, which in turn is supported by a large degree of plasticity as well as memory. Some aspects of this plasticity and memory are now known to be under epigenetic control – determined both by default, during differentiation, and by responses to environmental factors, including infectious agents. Thus, epigenetic marks in the immune system can occur as predetermined or as responsive marks and as such can potentially serve as diagnostic markers for disease susceptibility and disease progression or treatment response. Here, the authors review some examples of epigenetic control and epigenetic marks during the differentiation process of the immune system and memory formation, followed by some examples of epigenetic marks in the immune system subsequent to infection. These are used to illustrate the potential use of epigenetic marks as diagnostic markers in adverse immune system conditions and treatment thereof.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Adaptive Immune System
- Anthrax
- Humoral Immunity
- Innate Immune System
- Pathogen
- Neutrophil
- Cell-Mediated Immunity