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An immune response is a physiological reaction which occurs within an organism in the context of inflammation for the purpose of defending against exogenous factors. These include a wide variety of different toxins, viruses, intra- and extracellular bacteria, protozoa, helminths, and fungi which could cause serious problems to the health of the host organism if not cleared from the body.
The adaptive immune system evolved in early vertebrates and allows for a stronger immune response as well as immunological memory, where each pathogen is "remembered" by a signature antigen. [55] The adaptive immune response is antigen-specific and requires the recognition of specific "non-self" antigens during a process called antigen ...
In autoimmunity the immune system wrongly recognizes certain native molecules in the body as foreign (self-antigen), and mounts an immune response against them. Since these native molecules, as normal parts of the body, will naturally always exist in the body, the attacks against them can get stronger over time (akin to secondary immune response).
In immunology, immunocompetence is the ability of the body to produce a normal immune response following exposure to an antigen.Immunocompetence is the opposite of immunodeficiency (also known as immuno-incompetence or being immuno-compromised).
The Primary Immune Response refers to the first exposure and subsequent response of the immune system to a pathogen. During this initial response, the immune system identifies and targets the pathogen through various mechanisms, including the activation of immune cells such as T cells and B cells, which produce antibodies that specifically ...
However, strictly speaking, immunogenicity refers to the ability of an antigen to induce an adaptive immune response. Thus an antigen might bind specifically to a T or B cell receptor, but not induce an adaptive immune response. If the antigen does induce a response, it is an 'immunogenic antigen', which is referred to as an immunogen.
In both of these reactions, T cells may play an accomplice role in generating these auto-specific antibodies, although some of these reactions under Type 2 hypersensitivity would be considered normal in a healthy immune system (for example, Rhesus factor reactions during child-birth is a normal immune response against child antigens).
T cells contribute to immune defenses in two major ways: some direct and regulate immune responses; others directly attack infected or cancerous cells. [7] CD4+ lymphocytes, also called "helper" T cells, are immune response mediators, and play an important role in establishing and maximizing the capabilities of the acquired immune response. [3]