Immune Topics
2nd Year IB Class
Inflammation
• Inflammation is the a
biological response of
vascular tissues to
harmful stimuli
– Pathogens
– Damaged cells
– Irritants
• Attempt by organisms to
remove the harmful
stimuli and initiate the
healing process
Diagnosis
• Either Acute or Chronic
– Acute is the initial response which brings plasma
and leukocytes to the area, and is stopped when
the injurious stimulus is removed
– Chronic is a pathological condition which brings
monocytes, macrophages, lymphocytes, and
plasma cells which causes both destruction of the
cells and subsequent healing
Symptoms
• Common characteristics:
– Redness
– Swollen joint that is warm to the
touch
– Joint pain
– Joint stiffness
– Loss of joint function
• Flu-like symptoms which include:
– Fever
– Chills
– Fatigue/loss of energy
– Headaches
– Loss of appetite
– Muscle stiffness
Diagnosis
• Asthma
• Autoimmune diseases
• Chronic inflammation
• Chronic prostatitis
• Glomerulonephritis
• Hypersensitivities
• Inflammatory bowel diseases
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Reperfusion injury
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Transplant rejection
• Vasculitis
Treatment
• Anti-inflammatory drugs
• Removal of the injurious stimulus
Common Associated Diseases
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
– Chronic inflammation of joints
and tissue around them
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease
– Crohn’s Disease: affects any part
of gastrointestinal tract (mouth-
anus)
– ulcerative colitis: affects colon
and rectum
• Inflammatory Pelvic Disease
– Affects uterus, fallopian tubes,
and/or ovaries
– Leads to infertility
Lupus
About Lupus
• An auto-immune disease that can affect various
parts of the body including the skin, joints, heart,
lungs, blood, kidneys, and brain
• Immune system attacks itself because it cannot
differentiate between foreign matter and its own
cells and tissue
– Causes inflammation-the main characteristic of lupus
• Mostly a mild disease that only affects a few
organs, but may cause serious and even life-
threatening problems
Symptoms
• A butterfly-shaped rash across the bridge of the
nose and cheeks or a scaly, disk-shaped rash on the
face, neck or chest
• Sensitivity to sunlight. People with lupus often
experience severe rashes or sunburns after only a
little time in the sun.
• Skin ulcers, usually painless, on the tongue or
inside the mouth or nose
• Arthritis. Persons with the condition may
experience joint pain, stiffness and swelling.
Organ Rejection
In Relation to the Immune System
By Jessi Crouse
Rejection often occurs as a result of
Organ Transplants
• The immune system’s
natural response is that
the new organ is an alien
tumor
• This causes a battle
within the body, naturally
the body wants to kill it
• The immune system
sends B cell antibodies
that often attack within
minutes.
Rejection often occurs as a result of
Organ Transplants
• There is a brief period
before attack after a
transplant where the
patient feels relieved, but
this is quickly disrupted
by the T cell lymphocyte
attacks (killer T cells)
• Upon response, anti-
rejection drugs (often
toxic) are dispensed to
the patient.
~ One example of this is Cyclosporin
- This example is a toxin created from a Norwegian Fugus
- It combats the immune system by disabling killer T-cells
ANTI-REJECTION DRUGS
- Unfortunately, there are side effects such as increased hair growth throughout
the entire body as well as growth of gums over teeth
- This is the most commonly used and successful anti- rejection drug
MATCHING DONORS AND
RECIPIENTS
Minimal Rejection occurs by taking precautions:
- First one needs to match the donor and recipient blood types
- Second a close HLA tissue match is needed
- The higher the level of antigen matches, the less rejection will occur based
on a level from one to six
- This is due to the fact that the immune system is more passive to similar
body tissue
Other reasons rejection can occur are:
- Surprising the immune system
- Making the error of distributing anti-rejection drugs before the procedure
- Or if a woman has been pregnant, often it will treat the new organ growth
like a fetus by not attacking/ functioning the immune system in that region
this creates a danger of not fighting off future harms that attack the organ
Symptoms Cont.
• Inflammation of the linings of organs such as the
heart and lungs (serositis) that makes breathing
painful or causes shortness of breath or chest pain.
• Kidney problems, such as inflammation, either
without symptoms or accompanied by swelling of
the legs, and high blood pressure.
• Brain or spinal cord problems, accompanied by
headaches, seizures or mental problems.
People Affected
• 1.5 to 2 million Americans
• 90% of people affected are women
• In US, more common in African-Americans,
Latinos, Asians and Native Americans
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Natalie Warner
• Inflammatory autoimmune • Heart
disorder that causes the • Lungs
immune system to attack the • Digestion
joints, tissue around joints, • Kidneys
and other organs of the body • Blood
– Autoimmune: body’s immune • Nervous System
system mistakenly attacks • Eyes
the tissues its supposed to
protect • Can last for years without
symptoms
– Body produces specialized
cells/chemicals which are • Progressive Complete joint
released into the destruction and loss of
bloodstream to attack body function
tissues • TYPICALLY: 35-50 years of age
– Response causes abnormal BUT can occur in children
growth and inflammation in
the synovium, the membrane
that lines the joint
– Leads to damage of the
bone, cartilage, ligaments,
tissues, and blood vessels
• Musculoskeletal
• Skin
• Cause: uNkNoWn??
– Genetics
– Hormones
• More prevalent in women! 3:1 ratio
• Possible infection by virus or bacterium
– Some “bad” antigen stimulates the immune
response macrophage presents the antigen
to a T-Cell which initiates a response by B-
Cells who send antibodies which lead to
inflammation
The Pathogenesis Of…
Insulin-Dependent Diabetes
Alexia Burke
What is diabetes?
• Affects the way our bodies use digested food for energy
• The carbohydrates we eat are broken down into glucose
and circulated through the blood as the body’s major
energy source
• In order for cells in muscles and tissues to use this energy,
insulin must be present.
– Produced in the pancreas
• With the right amount of insulin, glucose is either used as fuel or
stored in the liver for future use
• With diabetes, the pancreas makes not enough insulin or
the body does not respond
– Glucose build-up occurs in blood and tissues and is excreted
through urine
• Body loses main source of fuel
Insulin-Dependent Diabetes
• Accounts for <5% of the people with diabetes
in the United States
• Typically appears in childhood
• The pancreas produces little or no insulin
• Person needs daily injection of insulin
– (to keep glucose levels from getting too high or
low)
What does it have to do with the
immune system?
• In IDDM, the body's own immune or disease-
fighting system for some reason turns against
the body's own tissues
• Substances formed by the immune system
attack the beta cells of the pancreas,
destroying their ability to make insulin
Allergies
What is an allergy?
• the mobilization of the immune system in
response to a foreign substance in the
body
• Production of the specific antibody
immunoglobulin E as a result of genetic
predisposition.
The Reaction
• Macrophages present foreign bodies to helper T-
cells
• T-cells tell B-cells to make antibodies
• B-cells make IgE
– The first time, the body makes a specific antibody
• IgE binds to mast cells and basophil cells
• Mast and basophil cells release chemicals that
trigger the allergic response.
Reactions to the Reactions!
Immediate Hypersensitivity
– Example: Sneezing and wheezing after ragweed
invasion
Late Phase Reaction
Mast Cells attract a myriad of chemotactic factors.
Eosinophils, neutrophils, and lymphocytes.
Factors attract toxic substances, such as
leukotrienes and major basic proteins.
Evolution Perspective
• Many of the chemicals involved in an allergic
reaction were historically used as a defense
against parasitic organisms.
• While the precise reason for allergic
dispositions is unknown, scientists have
isolated a number of genes that are involved
in allergic individuals.
An Autoimmune Disease
• In Multiple Sclerosis,
the body attacks its own
myelin sheaths, because
the immune system
mistakenly reads them
as foreign matter
Multiple Sclerosis
• Affects central nervous • Symptoms:
system; progressive – Partial or total blindness
damage to nerves – Tingling or pain in body
• Damage to myelin – Numbness/weakness of
sheaths limbs
• The immune system – Tremors
responds, causing – Lack of coordination
inflammation. The – Dizziness
inflammation destroys – Fatigue
myelin, slows down nerve
impulses, and leaves scar
tissue
Rh Factor/disease
By: Jennifer Frigge and Amber Barlow
What is Rh disease
• The Rh (Rhesus) is whether a protein is
present in the blood.
• Rh+ : the protein is present’
• Rh- : the protein is not present
• Rh factor is connected to blood type.
What is Rh disease continued
• Rh disease is a condition cause by an
incompatibility between the blood of a mother
and that of her fetus.
• If the mother is Rh-negative and her baby is Rh-
positive some of her fetus’s Rh-positive red blood
cells may get into the mother’s bloodstream.
• Since these red blood cells are foreign to the
mother’s body, it body will respond by producing
antibodies to fight against them.
Rh Disease and Treatment
• Rh Disease is one of the causes of Haemolytic disease of the
newborn
• It is an alloimmune condition in the fetus, and occurs when the
mother creates IgG antibodies that go into the fetus’s circulation
through the placenta and attack the fetus’s red blood cells
• This can cause reticulocvtosis, anemia, and jaundice
• Jaundice: yellowing discoloration of the skin
• Reticulocvtosis: increase in reticulocytes [present in anemia]
• Anemia: the level of healthy red blood cells (RBCs) in the body
becomes too low.
-This can lead to health problems because RBCs contain
hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to the body's tissues.
Rh Disease Treatment
BEFORE BIRTH
• Intrauterine transfusion
• Early induction of labor [pulmonary maturity attained]
• Plasma exchange [can reduce circulating levels of antibodies by 75%
AFTER BIRTH
• Temp. stabilization
• Monitoring phototherapy
• Transfusion w/ compatible red blood
• Exchange transfusion with compatible blood type of infant and
mother
**Treatment depends on how severe the condition is
Facts
• Most people are Rh-positive
• The health of an Rh-negative person is not
affected in any way.
– The only way that an Rh-negative person is at risk
is if a woman carries a baby that is Rh-positive.
The Beauty of
ibuprofen
Caroline Lemke
• Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug
• Created to combat rheumatoid arthritis in the
UK in 1969
• Dr. Adams tests (successfully) on a hangover
How it works
• NonSteroidalAntiInflammatoryDrug
• Inhibits cyclooxygenase (COX) which inhibits prostaglandin
synthesis
– COX-1
– COX-2
• 3 A’s come from COX-2 inhibition
– Analgesic (pain killer)
– Antipyretic (reduce temperature)
– Anti-inflammatory
• COX-1 inhibition has different effects
– unwanted effects on platelet aggregation
– GI mucosa
Functions of prostagladin
• cause constriction or dilatation in vascular
smooth muscle cells
• cause aggregation or disaggregation of platelets
• sensitize spinal neurons to pain
• constrict smooth muscle
• regulate inflammatory mediation
• regulate calcium movement
• control hormone regulation
• control cell growth
Monoclonal Antibodies
Laurel Osgood
What Are They?
• Antigen-specific antibodies produced from
clones of a single parent cell
• They can detect or purify specific antigens and
can be synthesized for almost any antigen
Problems
• Myeloma ~ cancer of B-cells
– The cancerous cells all produce one antibody (a
paraprotein or abnormal protein) instead of
different cells specific to different antigens
– Results in an inability to fight off most antigens