ELEMENTS OF THE

IMMUNE SYSTEM-
Part I
BS Home Economics- Major: Food and Nutrition
Course Code: FAN-606
Course Title: Nutritional Immunology

Madiha Javid
Organisms must constantly protect themselves from harm
caused by pathogens like viruses and bacteria. The immune
system delivers this protection via numerous pathways.

The immune response is broken down into

• innate immunity, which an organism is born with, and
• adaptive immunity, which an organism acquires
following disease exposure.
What is innate immunity?

Innate immunity, also known as genetic or natural immunity, is

immunity that one is born with. This type of immunity is
written in one’s genes, offering lifelong protection. The innate
immune response is fast acting and non-specific, meaning it
does not respond differently based on the specific virus or
bacteria that it detects.
Constituents of Innate System
The innate immune system encompasses physical barriers and chemical
and cellular defenses.
•Physical barriers protect the body from invasion. These include things
like the skin and eyelashes.
•Chemical barriers are defense mechanisms that can destroy harmful
agent. Examples include tears, mucous, and stomach acid.
•Cellular defenses of the innate immune response are non-specific. These
cellular defenses identify pathogens and substances that are potentially
dangerous and takes steps to neutralize or destroy them.

Another way to categorize the components of the innate response is by

external defenses, like skin and tears, and
internal defenses, like stomach acid and cellular defenses. External
defenses provide the first line of defense against pathogens while internal
defenses offer the second line of defense.
What is adaptive immunity?
Adaptive immunity is an organism’s acquired immunity to a specific
pathogen. As such, it’s also referred to as acquired immunity. Adaptive
immunity is not immediate, and does not always last throughout an
organism’s entire lifespan, although it can. The adaptive immune response is
marked by clonal expansion of T and B lymphocytes, releasing many
antibody copies to neutralize or destroy their target antigen.

The first time the body encounters a novel disease agent its response is
known as the primary immune response. When B lymphocytes, or B cells,
encounter a novel antigen, they create antibodies specific to the antigen
designed to destroy or neutralize it.

Simultaneously, B cells create memory cells, which are a type of B cell that
survives for decades and can detect the pathogen during subsequent exposure,
the secondary immune response.
It takes the body time to create antigen-specific antibodies the first
time, and therefore primary response takes longer than subsequent
responses. If an organism encounters the same pathogen a second
time, the immune system’s response will be faster and more robust
than the primary immune response. This increased speed is thanks
to memory cells.

The above type of adaptive immunity describes active immunity,

which is the immunity that occurs following pathogen exposure.
Another type of adaptive immunity is passive immunity. Passive
immunity occurs when an organism receives external antibodies
that protect against a disease. This protection can occur from
mother to baby through the placenta or via breast milk, or by
injection to defend against a specific disease.
Fig 1-1
Innate vs adaptive immunity
The following table summarizes the primary differences between innate and
adaptive immunity. 

Innate Immune Response Adaptive Immune

Response
Produces Effect Immediately Over time
Response Type Non-specific Specific
Types •External defenses •Active immunity
•Internal defenses •Passive immunity
Natural immunity; genetic
Also Known As Acquired immunity
immunity

Length of Short-term, long-term,

Lifelong
Efficacy lifelong
Cells involved in innate and adaptive immunity

There are many cell types involved in immunity.

• In the innate immune response, these include macrophages,

neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, mast cells, and dendritic
cells.

• Cells involved in the adaptive immune response include B

cells (or B lymphocytes) and a variety of T cells (or T
lymphocytes), including helper T cells and suppressor T
cells.

• Natural killer T cells and gamma-delta T cells are part of

both the innate and adaptive immune response.
Hematopoises:
generation of the blood cell lineages
Types of Active Adaptive Immunity

Humoral immunity and cell-mediated immunity is a

part of active immunity. They are the mechanisms which
protect our body against diseases when our innate
immune system fails. As a part of active immunity, they
take place after a couple of days the infection starts. 
 
The Functions Include:
•Recognition of specific non-self-antigens and presence
of self-antigens.
•Generate responses to eliminate specific pathogens or
pathogen-infected cells.
•Development of immunological cells.
Humoral Immunity

Humoral immune activity is one of the mechanisms of the

active immune system and is associated with circulating
antibodies in contrast to cellular immunity. The wide range
antibody activities is a response to rapid production of
antigen-specific B cells during infections which increases
antibody titers with enhanced affinity for the inciting agent
and more directed and effective response.
Cell-Mediated Immunity

Cell-mediated immunity is a type of adaptive immune

response that does not involve antibodies but it does involve
the activation of NK cell and macrophages and the production
of antigen-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes and the release
of several cytokines in response to a foreign antigen. Cell-
mediated immunity plays an important role in controlling
viral, chlamydia, rickettsia and protozoan infections such as
trypanosomes as antibodies cannot penetrate and attack
intracellular pathogens which multiply within the host cells.
 Humoral and Cell-Mediated Immune Response

The Humoral Immune Mechanism

The humoral immune system starts with the production of proactive
antibodies against infection or reinfection by common microorganisms such
as staphylococci and streptococci. B- Lymphocytes, which have specific
antigen receptors react when they come to contact with the specific antigen
by producing plasma cells. These plasma cells produce antigen-specific
antibodies and memory cells which enable the body to rapidly produce
antibodies if the same antigen appears later. The differentiation of B-cells is
stimulated by interleukin-2 (IL-2) which is secreted by CD4+ T cells and
foreign antigens processed by macrophages.
 
Antibodies which are produced by plasma B-cells are found mainly in the
blood spleen and lymph nodes and they eliminate antigens in several ways.
Some of them are, by activating the complement system and neutralizing
viruses and bacterial toxins. Another method is by coating the antigen by
opsonization or forming an antigen-antibody complex to stimulate
phagocytosis which promotes antigen clumping and prevents antigens from
attaching to host cells.
The Cellular Immune Mechanism
The mechanism of cell-mediated immunity takes a different approach than
humoral immunity. This mechanism protects the body through the following
activities:
•The response starts by activating antigen-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes or
CTLs which can destroy body cells which show epitopes of foreign antigen on
their surfaces such as cells with intracellular bacteria, cancer cells which show
tumor antigens and virus-infected cells.
•It also activates NK cells and macrophages which enable them to destroy
intracellular pathogens.
•The response stimulates the cells to produce a wide range of cytokines that
regulates the function of other cells involved in adaptive immune responses
and innate immune responses.

Cell-mediated immunity is directed primarily towards microbes which survive

phagocytes and microbes that infect non-phagocytic cells. It also plays a major
role in delayed transplant rejection. 
Cell-Mediated Immunity vs Humoral Immunity
Similarities Between Humoral and Cell-Mediated
Immunity

The parallels between cell-mediated and humoral immunity are

as follows:
•Both types of immunity systems are active immunities and
have a lag period.
•Both humoral and cell-mediated are active against several
types of pathogens.
•Both immunity systems are not effective in immune-deficient
individuals.
• In both of them, immunological memories are present.