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Non-specific immunity, or innate immunity, is the immune system with which you were born, made up of phagocytes and barriers. Phagocytosis , derived from the Greek words phagein , meaning to eat, kytos or cell, and “osis” meaning process, was first described by Élie Metchnikoff , who won the Nobel Prize 100 years ago.
The innate immune system or nonspecific immune system [1] is one of the two main immunity strategies in vertebrates (the other being the adaptive immune system). The innate immune system is an alternate defense strategy and is the dominant immune system response found in plants , fungi , prokaryotes , and invertebrates (see Beyond vertebrates ).
Innate immune defenses are non-specific, meaning these systems respond to pathogens in a generic way. [19] This system does not confer long-lasting immunity against a pathogen. The innate immune system is the dominant system of host defense in most organisms, [2] and the only one in plants. [20]
Besides phagocytosis, they play a critical role in nonspecific defense (innate immunity) and also help initiate specific defense mechanisms (adaptive immunity) by recruiting other immune cells such as lymphocytes. For example, they are important as antigen presenters to T cells.
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]
Cellular immunity, also known as cell-mediated immunity, is an immune response that does not rely on the production of antibodies. Rather, cell-mediated immunity is the activation of phagocytes , antigen-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes , and the release of various cytokines in response to an antigen .
In all vertebrates, there are two different kinds of immunities: Innate and Adaptive immunity. Innate immunity is used to fight off non-changing antigens and is therefore considered nonspecific. It is usually a more immediate response than the adaptive immune system, usually responding within minutes to hours. [2]
This allows the innate immune system to recognize pathogens and thus, protect the host from infection. [ 3 ] : 494 Although the term "PAMP" is relatively new, the concept that molecules derived from microbes must be detected by receptors from multicellular organisms has been held for many decades, and references to an "endotoxin receptor" are ...