III. THE ADAPTIVE IMMUNE SYSTEM

V. HYPERSENSITIVITY

A. An Overview

Fundamental Statements for this Learning Object:

1. Immediate hypersensitivities refer to humoral immunity (antigen/antibody reactions) causing harm.
2. Delayed hypersensitivities refer to cell-mediated immunity (cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, macrophages, and cytokines) leading to harm.

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR THIS SECTION

Adaptive (acquired) immunity refers to antigen-specific defense mechanisms that take several days to become protective and are designed to remove a specific antigen (def). This is the immunity one develops throughout life. There are two major branches of the adaptive immune responses: humoral immunity and cell-mediated immunity.

1. humoral immunity (def): humoral immunity involves the production of antibody molecules in response to an antigen (def) and is mediated by B-lymphocytes.

2. cell-mediated immunity (def): Cell-mediated immunity involves the production of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, activated macrophages, activated NK cells, and cytokines in response to an antigen (def) and is mediated by T-lymphocytes.

In this section we will look at hypersensitivities.

A. HYPERSENSITIVITIES: AN OVERVIEW

When the immune systems cause harm to the body, it is referred to as a hypersensitivity (def). There are two categories of adaptive hypersensitivities: immediate hypersensitivity and delayed hypersensitivity.

• Immediate hypersensitivities (def) refer to humoral immunity (antigen/antibody reactions) causing harm.
• Delayed hypersensitivities (def) refer to cell-mediated immunity (cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, macrophages, and cytokines) causing harm.

• QUIZ YOURSELF ON THIS SECTION

Gary E. Kaiser, Ph.D.
Professor of Microbiology
The Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville Campus
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work The Grapes of Staph at https://cwoer.ccbcmd.edu/science/microbiology/index_gos.html.