IMMUNITY, INFECTION AND

IMMUNODEFICIENCY
BY
ADEOLA FOWOTADE
 Immunity
• Immunity is body's ability to resist or eliminate
potentially harmful foreign materials or abnormal
cells
 DEFINITION
• Immunogen / antigen: a substance that elicits an
immune response [i.e. a humoral (antibody response) or
cell-mediated immune response]
• Epitope: the portion of an antigen that is recognized and
bound by an antibody (Ab) or a T-cell receptor (TCR)
• Immunogencity: is the ability to induce a humoral (antibody)
and/or cell-mediated immune response.
• Isoantigens: Antigens present in some but not all members of
a species
• Haptens are small molecules which are non-immunogenic,
thus could never induce an immune response by themselves.
 TYPES OF IMMUNITY
• INNATE (non–specific)
• ADAPTIVE (specific)
• 1. Natural
• 2. Artificial
 Innate Immunity
• -Anatomical: epidermis of the skin (densely packed dead cells)
• -Flow of mucus prevents bacterial entry By washing them
away
• -Normal flora colonize epithelial cells of mucosal surfaces and
pathogens compete with Them for attachment sites
• -Physiologic Barriers
– pH (stomach)
– Temperature (fever)
– Soluble Factors (interferon, lysozyme)
• Phagocytic Barriers
– Specialized Cells Perform Most Of Phagocytosis
(macrophages, neutrophils)
-Complement pathway- Alternate and the Classical
 Types of Immunity
• Adaptive Immunity
- Naturally-Acquired Active Immunity
- Artificially-Acquired Active Immunity

• Passive Immunity
- Naturally-Acquired Passive Immunity
- Artificially-Acquired Passive Immunity
 Adaptive Immunity
• The production of antibodies against a
specific disease by the immune system.
• Naturally acquired through disease
• Artificially acquired through vaccination
– Vaccines include inactivated toxins, killed
microbes, parts of microbes, and viable but
weakened microbes.
• Active immunity is usually permanent
• A vaccinated person has a secondary
response based on memory cells when
encountering the specific pathogen.
– Routine immunization against infectious
diseases such as measles and whooping
cough, and has led to the eradication of
smallpox, a viral disease.
– Unfortunately, not all infectious agents are
easily managed by vaccination.
• HIV vaccine in the works
 Passive Immunity

• Passive Immunity- Protection

against disease through antibodies
produced by another human being
or animal.
• Effective, but temporary
• A good example is maternal
antibodies found in the colostrum.
• Passive immunity can be transferred
artificially by injecting antibodies from an
animal that is already immune to a disease
into another animal.
– Rabies treatment: injection with antibodies
against rabies virus that are both passive
immunizations (the immediate fight) and active
immunizations (longer term defense).
Differences between innate and
acquired immunity
Innate immunity Acquired immunity
Components Physical and chemical Humoral
barrier Cell-mediated immunity
Phagocytes
Dendrites
Natural killer cells

Activity Always present Normally silent

Specificity General pathogen Highly specific
recognition but no
distinction

Response and Potency Immediate response but Slower response (1-2

lower potency weeks) but is more
potent
Memory No Yes
Immunity and the Immune Response System
antibody concentration Humoral Immune Response

primary response:
concentration of first exposure
anti-B antibody to antigen B

time (days)
 Immunoglobin Classes
IgM
• 1st response to antigen
• Effective in agglutination
• Can’t cross placenta
IgD
• B cell activation
• Can’t cross placenta

IgG
• Most common form
• Crosses blood vessels IgE
• • Histamine reactions
Crosses placenta (passive
immunity to fetus) and allergies

IgA
• Secreted from mucus
membranes
• Prevents attachment of bacteria
to epithelial surface
• In colostrum
 What does an antibody look like ?
Variable region

• 2 identical heavy chains

• 2 identical light chains

• Each heavy chain – has a

constant and a variable
Constant region

L L region

• Each light chain has a

constant and a variable
region
H H
 T Cells
• Mature in thymus
• Involved in cell-mediated immunity
• Activated when another cell presents
antigen to them
• Several types of T cells: cytotoxic T
cells, helper T cells, suppressor T cells,
and memory T cells
 T Cells
• There are two main types of T cells, and each
responds to one class of MHC molecule.
– Cytotoxic T cells (TC) have antigen receptors that
bind to protein fragments displayed by the body’s
class I MHC molecules.
– Helper T cells (TH) have receptors that bind to
peptides displayed by the body’s class II MHC
molecules.
 Cytotoxic T Cell

perforin

pores in target cell

 Helper T Cells

bacterial T cell receptor

bacterium antigens

helper
T cell

macrophage interleukin 1
Abnormal Immune Function

• Autoimmune Disease
• Allergy
• Immunodeficiency
 Autoimmune Disease
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Type I Diabetes
• MS
• Lupis
• Crohn’s disease
• Grave’s disease
INFECTION
 INFECTION
• Infection is the invasion of an organism's
body tissues by disease-causing agents, their
multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the
infectious agents and the toxins they produce.
• Infections are caused by infectious
agents including viruses, viroids, prions, bacteria, nema
todes such as parasitic roundworms
and pinworms, arthropods such as ticks, mites, fleas,
and lice, fungi such as ringworm, and
other macroparasites such as tapeworms and
other helminths.
 KOCH’S POSTULATE
• One way of proving that a given disease is "infectious",
is to satisfy Koch's postulates (first proposed by
Robert Koch), which demands that the infectious
agent be identified only in patients and not in healthy
controls.
• There are four criteria designed to establish a causative
relationship between a microbe and a disease.
• The postulates were formulated by Robert Koch and
Friedrich Loeffler in 1884, based on earlier concepts
described by Jakob Henle
 KOCH S POSTULATE
• The microorganism must be found in abundance in all
organisms suffering from the disease, but should not be
found in healthy organisms.
• The microorganism must be isolated from a diseased
organism and grown in pure culture.
• The cultured microorganism should cause disease when
introduced into a healthy organism.
• The microorganism must be re isolated from the
inoculated, diseased experimental host and identified as
being identical to the original specific causative agent.
 The Six Links…
• Pathogen
• Reservoir
• Place of Exit
• Method of Transmission
• Port of Entry
• Susceptible Host
 Reservoir
• The place for a pathogen to live and
grow
– Direct transmission:
Human or animal body (host)
– Indirect transmission:
Contaminated food or water
Animal/insect
Infected soil
 MODE OF TRANSMISSION
• CONTACT TRANSMISSION- (DIRECT & INDIRECT) Contact
transmission is the most common route of transmission
of organisms in health care settings.
• DROPLET TRANSMISSION- Droplets should come in
contact with mucus membrane directly or indirectly
through sneezing ,coughing ,talking etc. Examples of
droplet transmission include influenza, meningitis etc.
• AIRBORNE TRANSMISSION- There are three common
diseases that are transmitted through the airborne
route; chicken pox (varicella), tuberculosis, and measles.
• VECTOR TRANSMISSION- Vector transmission occurs
when an insect or animal transmits disease to humans.
e.g. Malaria and Dengue fever etc.
 Port of Entry
• Ways to enter a new host
– Broken skin
– Mouth
– Nose
– Eyes
– Genitals
– Insect bites
IMMUNODEFICIENCY
 Primary Immunodeficiency

• Early onset, usually between 6 months & 2 years

of age
• Recurrent infections
• Classification
B-cell deficiencies:
• 1-X-linked agammaglobulinemia of Bruton
• 2-Common variable immunodeficiency
• 3-Isolated IGA deficiency
 Primary Immunodeficiency
T-cell deficiencies:
• 1-Hyper IgM syndrome
• 2-DiGeorge syndrome
• Severe combined immunodeficiency
X-linked Agammaglobulinaemia of Bruton

• Absent or markedly decreased concentration

of all classes of Immunoglobulin*
• Affecting boys (X-linked disease)*
• Symptoms appear after 6 months of age*
Typically there is increase incidence of otitis
media, skin & respiratory infections caused by
H. influenzae, S. pneumoniae, or S. aureus
 Isolated IgA immunodeficiency:
• Most common type accounts for 1/600 individuals*
• Defect in differentiation of IgA B-cells
• Either familial or acquired (in association with
toxoplasmosis & measles)*
• Many of these men & women are asymptomatic*
Increase incidence of respiratory, GIT & urogenital
tract infections*
• Increase incidence of autoimmune diseases esp.
SLE & rheumatoid arthritis*
DiGeorge syndrome (Thymic hypoplasia)

• T-cell deficiency due to the failure of

development of thymus*
• No cell-mediated response*
• Part of CATCH 22 syndrome (Cardiac
abnormality, T-cell deficiency, cleft palate,
hypocalcemia)which occurs due to deletion of
chromosome 22
 Secondary IDs
• Chronic infection
• old age
• Chronic malnutrition
• Wide spread malignancy
• Chronic renal failure
• Side effects of immune suppression
• irradiation
• chemotherapy for cancer or other autoimmune
diseases .