Time course of innate vs. adaptive immunity

• adaptive immunity involves antibody production and cell-mediated immunity

• innate immunity involves peptides, antimicrobial agents, complement

• adaptive immune response, no matter how elegant, may be more trouble than good for the vast majority of us—for example, autoimmune disease

• the innate immune system informs the adaptive immune response

Examples of innate immune defenses

• anatomical barriers

• mechanical removal

• antagonism by the normal flora

• defense chemicals and peptides, including…

• cytokines and other inflammatory mediators, leading to…

• fever

• complement pathways

• neutrophil and macrophage phagocytosis

Critical role of innate immunity

• patients with abnormalities in the adaptive immune system can last for a very long time unless they encounter very specific pathogens

• patients with abnormalities in the innate immune system get infections very shortly

Infectious complications of altered innate immunity

• neutropenic mucositis

• neutropenic colitis

Category: Microbiology Notes