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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.
A scanning electron microscope image of a single neutrophil (yellow/right), engulfing anthrax bacteria (orange/left) – scale bar is 5 μm (false color). The immune system is a network of biological systems that protects an organism from diseases.
Inflammation is a generic response, and therefore is considered a mechanism of innate immunity, whereas adaptive immunity is specific to each pathogen. [2] Inflammation is a protective response involving immune cells, blood vessels, and molecular mediators. The function of inflammation is to eliminate the initial cause of cell injury, clear out ...
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Scheme of the complement system. The complement system, also known as complement cascade, is a part of the humoral, innate immune system and enhances (complements) the ability of antibodies and phagocytic cells to clear microbes and damaged cells from an organism, promote inflammation, and attack the pathogen's cell membrane. [1]
Positive acute-phase proteins serve (as part of the innate immune system) different physiological functions within the immune system.Some act to destroy or inhibit growth of microbes, e.g., C-reactive protein, mannose-binding protein, [3] complement factors, ferritin, ceruloplasmin, serum amyloid A and haptoglobin.
TLRs are a major class of pattern recognition receptor, that exists in all coelomates (animals with a body-cavity), including humans. [35] The complement system exists in most life forms. Some invertebrates, including various insects, crabs , and worms utilize a modified form of the complement response known as the prophenoloxidase (proPO) system.
One of their roles (specifically, leukotriene D 4) is to trigger contractions in the smooth muscles lining the bronchioles; their overproduction is a major cause of inflammation in asthma and allergic rhinitis. [5] Leukotriene antagonists are used to treat these disorders by inhibiting the production or activity of leukotrienes. [6]