2020–2021 BCSC Basic and Clinical Science Course™
9 Uveitis and Ocular Inflammation
Chapter 2: Immunization and Adaptive Immunity: The Immune Response Arc and Immune Effectors
Highlights
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Adaptive (or acquired) immunity is a “learned” response to specific antigens rather than a response to conserved patterns.
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The adaptive immune system continuously samples antigenic epitopes, determines if they are “self ” or “nonself ” then mounts an immune response to eliminate foreign antigens.
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Conversion of an antigenic stimulus to an immune response involves activation of immune cells, particularly T and B lymphocytes, and development of memory for that specific antigen.
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The adaptive immune response has two arms/compartments that closely interact with each other, one of humoral defense, employing soluble antibodies secreted by plasma cells and another of cell-mediated defense, coordinated by T lymphocytes.
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The cell-mediated responses (particularly Th1, Th2, and Th17 types) are very relevant to the immunopathology of several intraocular inflammatory conditions.
Excerpted from BCSC 2020-2021 series: Section 9 - Uveitis and Ocular Inflammation. For more information and to purchase the entire series, please visit https://www.aao.org/bcsc.