The immune response

Section 25 16 Carbohydrates and proteins that are connected by a chemical bond are called glycoproteins and often occur on the surfaces of cells They play an impor tant role m the recognition events connected with the immune response... 

Finally, in another study related to nutrition and the immune response in the aged, old mice were given oral doses of two amino acids (qv), lysine and arginine. The treated mice showed evidences of recovered mitogenic responsiveness, expression of T-ceU markers, and production of thymic semm factor (thymulin). The effect of the amino acid combination, sold commercially as Neoiodarsolo, seems to consist mainly of the reactivation of the... 

Live vaccines are normally weakened strains that do not cause diseases in the host, but stiU can stimulate the immune response. A typical example is the poho vaccine. The weakening of microorganisms or attenuation of the vims or bacteria can be accompHshed by passage through different substrates and/or at different temperatures. Modem genetic engineering techniques can also be used to attenuate a vims or bacterium. 

Adjuvants are substances which can modify the immune response of an antigen (139,140). With better understanding of the functions of different arms of the immune system, it is possible to explore the effects of an adjuvant, such that the protective efficacy of a vaccine can be improved. At present, aluminum salt is the only adjuvant approved for use in human vaccines. New adjuvants such as QS-21, 3D-MPL, MF-59, and other liposome preparations are being evaluated. Several of these adjuvants have been in clinical trial, but none have been approved for human use. IL-12 has been proposed as an adjuvant which can specifically promote T-helper 1 ceU response, and can be a very promising adjuvant for future vaccine development. 

Insufficient zinc results in slowed growth, delayed wound healing, poor appetite, mental lethargy, and sexual immaturity and it interferes with the immune response. The main function of zinc in metaboHsm is enzymatic and there is evidence of other physiologic roles, eg, in stabilization of membrane stmcture (57). 

Research on an hCG vaccine has been conducted over the past 15 years. WHO has conducted a phase I clinical study in AustraUa, using a vaccine based on a synthetic C-terminal peptide (109—141) of P-hCG conjugated to Diptheria Toxoid (CTP-DT), that showed potentially effective contraceptive levels of antibodies were produced in vaccinated women without any adverse side effects. Phase II clinical studies are under consideration to determine if the immune response, raised to its prototype anti-hCG vaccine, is capable of preventing pregnancy in fertile women volunteers (115). While research on the C-terminal peptide from the P-subunit of hCG has been carried out under the auspices of WHO, research supported by the Population Council and the National Institutes of Health has involved two alternative vaccine candidates (109,116,118). 

Hydroxymethyl-6-methyluracil (1043) was prepared many years ago from 6-methyl-uracil and formaldehyde, or in other ways. Since 1956 it has received much attention in the USSR under the (transliterated) name pentoxyl or pentoxil. It is used in several anaemic and disease conditions. For example, a mixture of folic acid and pentoxyl quickly reduces the anaemia resulting from lead poisoning pentoxyl stimulates the supply of serum protein after massive blood loss it stimulates wound healing it stimulates the immune response in typhus infection and it potentiates the action of sulfonamides in pneumococcus infections (70MI21300). 

The consequence of ADA deficiency is accumulation of adenosine and 2 -deoxyadenosine, substances toxic to lymphocytes, important cells in the immune response. 2 -Deoxyadenosine is particularly toxic because its presence leads to accumulation of its nucleotide form, dATP, an essential substrate in DNA synthesis. Elevated levels of dATP actually block DNA replication and cell division by inhibiting synthesis of the other deoxynncleoside 5 -triphosphates (see Chapter 27). Accumulation of dATP also leads to selective depletion of cellular ATP, robbing cells of energy. Children with ADA SCID fail to develop normal immune responses and are susceptible to fatal infections, unless kept in protective isolation. 

A recent example of a CA model of the immune response in AIDS is Pandley s four-cell model using interactions among macrophages (= M) containing parts of the virus on their surface, helper T cells (= H), cytotoxic T cells (= C) and the virus (= V) ([pand89], [pandQl]) ... 

Mak TW, Saunders M (2006) The immune response -basic and clinical principles, chapter 28. Elsevier Academic Press, Amsterdam... 

Alloimmunity is the immune response mounted by a host on the basis of differences in major histocompatibility antigens expressed on the surface of a donor cell from the same species as the host. 

T-cells, representing the adaptive arm of the immune response, also play a critical role in atherogenesis, and enter lesions in response to the chemokines inducible protein-10 (DP-10), monokine induced by DFN-y (MIG), and DFN-inducible T-cell a-chemoattractant (I-TAC), which bind CXCR3 (a chemokine receptor containing two cysteine residues separated by one amino acid), highly expressed by T lymphocytes in the plaque. The... 

Hansson GK, Libby P (2006) The immune response in atherosclerosis a double-edged sword. Nat Rev Immunol 6 508-519... 

A cascade of proteins of the immune response that can be triggered by antigen-antibody complexes and by the innate immune system (e.g. exposure to microbial polysaccharides) to raise the immune response. Complement proteins can detect and bind to foreign material or immune complexes and label them for phagocytosis. They can also cause inflammation by directly degranulating mast cells and releasing chemokines to recruit other immune cells into the affected area. 

Dead or live bacteria may be effective to stimulate inflammatory reactions of phagocytic cells against tumor cells. The best-characterized treatment is the use of Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) in the case of bladder cancer where activation of the immune response is capable of controlling tumor growth. 

Lymphocytes are specialized white blood cells that play a crucial role in an immune response.They can be T lymphocytes, which can directly target and destroy defective cells, or B lymphocytes, which produce antibodies directed against specific antigens. Both T and B lymphocytes produce a variety of cytokines to augment and amplify the immune response. 

The glucocorticoids influence or regulate functions such as the immune response system, the regulation of glucose, fat and protein metabolism, and control of the anti-inflammatory response. Table 50-1 describes the activity of the glucocorticoids within the body. 

The ghicocorticoids are used as replacement therapy for adrenocortical insufficiency, to treat allergic reactions, collagen diseases (eg, systemic lupus erythematosus), dermatologic conditions, rheumatic disorders, shock, and other conditions (see Display 50-1). The anti-inflammatory activity of these hormones make them valuable as anti-inflammatories and as immunosuppressants to suppress inflammation and modify the immune response... 

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