Immunity (medical)
hideImmunity is a biological term that describes a state of having sufficient biological defenses to avoid infection, disease, or other unwanted biological invasion. Immunity involves both specific and non-specific components. The non-specific components act either as barriers or as eliminators of wide range of pathogens irrespective of antigenic specificity. Other components of the immune system adapt themselves to each new disease encountered and are able to generate pathogen-specific immunity.
Adaptive immunity is often sub-divided into two major types depending on how the immunity was introduced. Naturally acquired immunity occurs through contact with a disease causing agent, when the contact was not deliberate, whereas artificially acquired immunity develops only through deliberate actions such as vaccination. Both naturally and artificially acquired immunity can be further subdivided depending on whether immunity is induced in the host or passively transferred from a immune host. Passive immunity is acquired through transfer of antibodies or activated T-cells from an immune host, and is short lived, usually lasts only a few months, whereas active immunity is induced in the host itself by antigen, and lasts much longer, sometimes life-long. The diagram below summarizes these divisions of immunity.
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News tagged with immune
Implant-based cancer vaccine is first to eliminate tumors in mice
Nov 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A cancer vaccine carried into the body on a carefully engineered, fingernail-sized implant is the first to successfully eliminate tumors in mammals, scientists report this week in the journal ...
Two molecules affecting brain plasticity
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- You wouldn't want a car with no brakes. It turns out that the developing brain needs them, too.
Researchers discover biological basis of 'bacterial immune system'
Nov 25, 2009 |
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Bacteria don't have easy lives. In addition to mammalian immune systems that besiege the bugs, they have natural enemies called bacteriophages, viruses that kill half the bacteria on Earth every two days.
New discovery about the formation of new brain cells
Nov 23, 2009 |
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The generation of new nerve cells in the brain is regulated by a peptide known as C3a, which directly affects the stem cells' maturation into nerve cells and is also important for the migration of new nerve cells through ...
Vaccine being developed to help smokers quit
Medicine & Health / Medications
Nov 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Glaxo-SmithKline has joined forces with Nabi Pharmaceuticals to produce a vaccine to help smokers give up their addiction permanently.
WHO says Tamiflu still works against swine flu
Medicine & Health / Medications
Nov 26, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The World Health Organization says isolated cases of drug-resistant swine flu in Britain and the United States have not changed the agency's assessment of the disease.
Gene mismatch influences success of bone marrow transplants
Nov 22, 2009 |
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A commonly inherited gene deletion can increase the likelihood of immune complications following bone marrow transplantation, an international team of researchers reports in the November 22 advance online issue of Nature Ge ...
Tailor-made HIV/AIDS treatment closer to reality
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Nov 25, 2009 |
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An innovative treatment for HIV patients developed by McGill University Health Centre researchers has passed its first clinical trial with flying colours. The new approach is an immunotherapy customized for each individual ...
Factors from common human bacteria may trigger multiple sclerosis
Nov 24, 2009 |
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Current research suggests that a common oral bacterium may exacerbate autoimmune disease. The related report by Nichols et al, "Unique Lipids from a Common Human Bacterium Represent a New Class of TLR2 Ligands Capable of ...
Scientists identify DNA that regulates antibody production
Nov 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- When foreign invaders trip the immune system’s alarm, antibodies need to be specially sculpted to attack them head on. New research now shows that gene segments called enhancers control the reshuffling of ...
Scientists begin to unravel what makes pandemic H1N1 tick
Nov 16, 2009 |
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As the number of deaths related to the pandemic H1N1 virus, commonly known as "swine flu," continues to rise, researchers have been scrambling to decipher its inner workings and explain why the incidence is lower than expected ...
Cross-country runabouts -- immune cells on the move
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In order to effectively fight pathogens, even at remote areas of the human body, immune cells have to move quickly and in a flexible manner.
HIV vaccine failure probably caused by virus used, says new research
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Nov 16, 2009 |
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The recent failure of an HIV vaccine was probably caused by the immune system reacting to the virus 'shell' used to transmit the therapy around the body, according to research published today in the Proceedings of the Na ...
Researchers create compound that boosts anti-inflammatory fat levels
Nov 16, 2009 |
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UC Irvine pharmacology researchers have discovered a way to boost levels of a natural body fat that helps decrease inflammation, pointing to possible new treatments for allergies, illnesses and injuries related to the immune ...
Scientists find previous seasonal flu infections may provide some level of H1N1 immunity
Nov 16, 2009 |
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Researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology have found that previous influenza infections may provide at least some level of immunity to the H1N1 "swine" flu.
