nonspecfic immune reaction

[lisapoor]

What's so great about the nonspecfic immune reactions that prevents diseases? In other words, how come the bugs don't win all the time? What is it about the communication system in this part of the immune system that makes the reaction so comprehensive?

 

Any thoughts?

[mattbimbo]

by nonspecific immune responses i assume you mean innate immune responses.

 

one great thing about the innate response is that it is very fast. adaptive immune responses take weeks, to months, to develop, while innate responses are immediate.

 

furthermore the adaptive immune response is built on top the innate response.

 

for instance a bacteria enters a host, this triggers an innate response that can limit the growth of the bacteria (remember a bacteria can replicate in 20-40min which is very fast). the bacteria are opsonised with complement and taken up/eaten/phagocytised by cells such as macrophages and dendritic cells. these cell types can not only tell when they are eating bacteria, which actives them to produce signals to attract other cells, they also present antigens on their cell surface. this is the basis for the adaptive immune response where B and/or T cells recognise the bacterial anitgens presented on the surface of the phagocytic cell.

 

does this part way answer your question?

my advice would be to look at how phagocytic cells link the innate and the adaptive immune responses.

 

i can find references if you need but a standard text book should do.

 

you are asking good questions - in the future you might want to consider the relationships between the immune and the nervous systems.