Immunity

Authors

Affiliations

Nate Yomogida, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.S. in Kinesiology

Chloë Kerstein, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.A. in Neuroscience

Overview

Innate Immunity

AKA

• Natural Immunity¹
• Native immunity¹

Innate immunity is vital for defending against the immediate introduction of microbes within the first few hours or days after infection¹. Innate immunity acts before the adaptive immune response develops¹.

Mediation

“Innate immunity is mediated by mechanisms that are in place even before an infection occurs (hence innate) and are capable of reacting rapidly to invading microbes”¹

Adaptive Immunity

AKA

• Specific immunity¹
• Acquired immunity¹

Adaptive Immunity refers to the aspects of the immune system that are activated after exposure to an infectious agent and increase in magnitude and defensive capabilities with consecutive exposures to the same immune stimulus¹. The stimulus that the adaptive immune system react to are collectively called “antigens,” which include many microbial and nonmocrobial substances¹. The adaptive immune system is important since pathogens continually evolve to overcome the innate immune response, thus the adaptive immune response is required to create a specialized immune response that is more effective¹.

Cooperation between Innate and Adaptive immune systems

The adaptive and innate immune responses work together via many connections¹. The innate immune response will respond first and attack the microbes while also stimulative the adaptive immune responses¹. The adaptive immune responses strengthens the innate immune system by making it more robust and effective¹

References

1.

Abbas AK, Lichtman AH, Pillai S, Baker DL. Cellular and Molecular Immunology. 10th ed. Elsevier; 2022.