immune system

WHAT MAKES UP THE IMMUNE SYSTEM ?

© Dr. Deb Baker 2006-2009

Page 2 of Dr. Deb's Immune System Pages

Looking at the components of the immune system:

The immune system is incredibly complicated. As research continues this proves to be more and more the case. What I'm about to outline here is a grand simplification, to give you an idea of the vastness in number of "characters" needed to dance the dance of "immunity". Bear in mind here that ALL the cells I'm describing below are white blood cells.

The major components of the immune system are the lymphatic vessels and organs..(lymph nodes, thymus, spleen, tonsils, appendix and Peyer's patches), white blood cells..(neutrophils, osinophils, basophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, etc.)..specialized cells residing in various tissue..(macrophages, mast cells, etc. and very highly specialized biochemical factors.

There are two major parts to the immune system..the humoral and the cellular..which I will go into detail more later.

About one sixth of the body is made up of the space between the cells and structures. This is called the interstitium (basically.."between everything else') and the fluid in that space is the interstitial fluid. This fluid flows into the lymphatic vessels and becomes the lymph.

The word "lymph" in Greek means a pure, clear stream--an appropriate description considering its appearance and purpose. Lymphatic vessels and lymph nodes are the parts of the special circulatory system that carries lymph, a transparent fluid containing white blood cells, chiefly lymphocytes.

Lymph bathes the tissues of the body, and the lymphatic vessels collect and move it eventually back into the blood circulation. Lymph nodes dot the network of lymphatic vessels and provide meeting grounds for the immune system cells that defend against invaders. The spleen, at the upper left of the abdomen, is also a staging ground and a place where immune system cells confront foreign microbes.

Both immune cells and foreign molecules enter the lymph nodes via blood vessels or lymphatic vessels. All immune cells exit the lymphatic system and eventually return to the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, lymphocytes are transported to tissues throughout the body, where they act as sentries on the lookout for foreign antigens.

Cells that will grow into the many types of more specialized cells that circulate throughout the immune system are produced in the bone marrow. This nutrient-rich, spongy tissue is found in the center shafts of certain long, flat bones of the body, such as the bones of the pelvis. There are about one trillion lymphocytes.

The two major classes of lymphocytes are B cells, which grow to maturity in the bone marrow, and T cells, which mature in the thymus, high in the chest behind the breastbone.

Humoral Part of Immune System - Antibody Controlled

The humoral part of the immune system is managed by B cells..which produce antibodies,.... large protein molecules that circulate in the blood and lymph streams and attach to foreign antigens (non self cells, ie virus, bacteria, cancer cells, etc.) to mark them for destruction by other immune cells. The antigen death is performed by a sequence of cellular events.

A B lymphocyte is specific to the kind of antibody it creates. When it encounters an antigen, it springs into action and starts making an antigen-specific antibody. Now, when this antigen is encountered again the B lymphocytes will recognized it immediately and go into action much more quickly to destroy it.

This is the premise of vaccination..inject a little...have the B lymphocytes "tweaked" and they fly into action if the person evey encountered that specific bacterium. The problem is....vaccination runs right past the first line of defense which is the linings of the lungs and digestive tract which in many cases will destroy the bacterium before it ever gets to the level of stimulating this B lymphocyte type of reaction..which in the scheme of things is your "top gun" of reactions.

The problem is that the humoral system seems to have some limits..you can't call on the "big guys' too often...it wears thin. In his book DPT - A Shot In The Dark Dr. Harris Coulter explains this whole phenomena. It has been said that the number of vaccinations today can use up about 70% of the humoral response..leaving only 30% or so left for the rest of life. No wonder we see so many sickly kids today!

Cell Mediated Part of the Immune System - Cellular Control

This is basically the rest of the immune system..there are all kinds of cell which have specific jobs, and biochemical components..again with their particular role to play.

Here are a few of the more common players:

Monocytes as they are called when we find them in the blood and macrophages when found in the tissues (literally means "big eaters") are the major consumers of products of inflammation i.e. from bacterial assult, debris of any cellular breakdown and dead cells.

Neutrophils found in the blood stream ..(polymorphonuclear leucocytes) are your body's own version of "pac-man" in that they run around munching up micro-organisms which do not belong to you.

Histiocytes which most people have never heard of, are defense cells fixed in certain tissues. They don't move around all over as do most immune cells. Together they make up a great line of defense like the Wall of China for their particular tissue. Its call the recticulo-endothelial system or RES.

Eosinophils and Basophils are involved in allergic conditions. They secrete histamine and other inflammatory compounds which are designed to breakdown antigen-antibody complexes..to eliminate them..but they are also responsible for allergic reactions.

T Cell lymphocytes..these are thymus derived lymphocytes. They orchestrate many functions of the immune system..having effects on many of the orther cells. There are T helper cells..which as you would think, help other cells in their function...T suppessor cells which inhibit some cell functions and cytotoxic T cells which attack and kill foreign cells like cancer and virus-infected cells.

One of the very important factors here is the ratio of helper to suppessor cells. If the helpers are too low..the immune system is weak and ineffective as in the case with AIDS. If the ratio of helpers to suppressors is too high, we see autoimmune disease..the body reacting on its own tissues as in the case of allergies, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

Natural Killer Cells or NK cells are the body's first line of defense against cancer. These cells excel at killing cancer or virus/bacteria infected cells. When these diseases and chronic fatigue exists in someone..the NK's are usually very low.

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