BASIC IMMUNOLOGY

1. INTRODUCTION
2. DEFINITIONS AND CLASSIFICATION OF IMMUNOLOGY
3. DEVELOPMENT OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
4. CELLS OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
5. ANTIGEN
6. ANTIGEN PRESENTING CELLS
7. IMMUNOGLOBULINS
8. REGULATORY CELL SURFACE MOLECULES OF IMMUNE SYSTEM
#MAJOR HISTOCOMPATABILITY COMPLEX
#CLUSTER OF DIFFERENTIATION
#CELL SURFACE RECEPTORS
#ADHESINS
9. EFFECTOR MOLECULES OF IMMUNE SYSTEM
# IMMUNOGLOBINS
#COMPLEMENT
#CYTOKINES
10. SPECIFIC IMMUNE RESPONSE
11. HYPERSENSITIVITY
12. AUTOIMMUNITY
13. PERIODONTAL IMMUNOLOGY
a) Immunological aspect in gingivitis
b) Immunological aspect in periodontitis
14. CONCLUSION
15. REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION :

IMMUNOLOGY may be defined as a study of the resistance of living organism s to

harmful agents, irrespective of the nature of the agent.
STUDY OF IMMUNOLOGY involves the process by which a bodydefends and
maintain s the constantly of its internal milieu against invasion by foreign organism or
mutation or development of unwanted cells or cell products within itself.
Thus it deals with antigen , antibody and cell mediated functions especially as they relate
to immunity to disease , hypersensitive biological reactions, allergies and rejection of
foreign tissues
The recent outburst of advances in immunology has been responsible for notable
progress in the field of various sciences.
I n Periodontics , periodontal disease emphasize a specific bacterial etiology of
periodontitis than a non specific indictment of plaque.Now, it is recognized that host
response plays a role in most forms of periodontal disease.
In gingivitis and periodontitis, the development of the disease dependsw on the
interaction between resistant micro biota and host response.
In desquamative gingivitis, the lesion s frequently result from a host
response.Since most of the host response triggered by bacterial infection s are
immunologic, the study on immunology is relevant
DEFINITIONS;
1. IMMUNITY is defined as state of resistence or insusceptility to toxic molecules,
microorganisms and their products. It is a state of increased reactivity and protection
against a substance that comes in contact with a host.
( Oral microbiology and infectious diseases, 3rd edition)
2. ANTIGEN is a substance with when introduced into a bodycan generate an immune
response
3. HAPTENis a non protein structure which combines with a protein and the resulting
complex behaves as an antigen
4.ANTIBODY OR IMMUNOGLOBULIN are serum molecules produced by B
lymphocytes ,found in plasma and destroy toxins liberated from bacteria or coat the
bacteria so that they are subsequently phagocytozed.
5. RECEPTORS are highly specialized structures present on target cels desingned to
combine a highly specific chemical compound or even specific cells..
6. MAJOR HISTOCOMPACTABILITY COMPLEX The antigen fragments are
presented on the surface of the cell by a specialized grup of molecules which are
encoded in a set of genes reffered to as MHC
7. HUMAN LEUCOCYTE ANTIGEN class of antigen s produced by the MHC which
is glycoprotein in nature

CLASSIFICATION
1. INNATE IMUNITY
a) Non specific
b) Specific
2.AQUIRED IMMUNITY
a) Active Natural
Artificial
b)Passive Natural
Artificial
INNATE IMMUNITY is the resistance to infection s which an individual posses by
virtue of his genetic and constitutional make up.acts as afirst line of defence against
infectious agents. It may be:
NON SPECIFIC when it indicvates a degreeof resistence to infections in general.
SPECIFIC when resistence to a particular pathogen is concerned.
SPECIES IMMUNITY refers to the total or relative refractioriness to a pathogen shown
by all numbers of the species
Eg: Human beings are totally in susceptible to plant pathogens ann
and to many pathogens of animals
RACIAL IMMUNITY Different races may show differences in susceptibilityto
infections. This is known as racial immunity
Eg: High resistence of Algerian sheep to Antrax
INDIVIDUAL IMMUNITY Differences in innate immunity exhibited by different
individuals in a race is known as individual immunity.
INNATE IMMUNITY results from the following:
1.resistence of the skin to invasion by organism
2.phagocytosis of bacteria and other invaders by WBCand cells of the tissue macrophage
system( derived from bone marrow)
3. presence of certain chemical coumpounds in the blood and other secretions that attach
to foreign organisms or toxins to destroy them
eg: lysozyme, complement complex
4. Natural killer cells
5.Normal bacterial flora and protection from infection
DETERMINANTS OF INNATE IMMUNITY
1.Speceis
2.Individual differences and influence of age
3. Nutritional factors and hormonal influences
4. Temperature
5. Complement system
6. Oxygen concentration
7. Genetic differences