Our Body's Immune System

The immune system plays a vital role in helping the body to fight diseases, as well as pathogens, the disease-causing factors. It is mainly composed of the tonsils and adenoids, the lymph nodes and lymphatic vessels, the spleen, appendix, and bone marrow. The main purpose of the immune system is to assist the body in its struggle to maintain optimal health.

The organs that make up the lymphatic and immune system are the tonsils, spleen, thymus gland, lymph nodes, and lymphatic vessels. White blood cells (leukocytes), red blood cells (erythrocytes), plasma, and platelets (thrombocytes) make up the blood. Lymphocytes are leukocytes (white blood cells) that help the body fight off diseases. Two types of lymphocytes are B cells and T cells. Lymphocytes recognize antigens, or foreign substances/matter, in the body. Lymphocytes are a classification of agranulocytes, or cells (-cytes) without (a-) granules (granul/o) in the cytoplasm. B cells are created from stem cells, which are located in the bone marrow. B cells respond to antigens by becoming plasma cells. These plasma cells then create antibodies. Memory B cells produce a stronger response with the next exposure to the antigen. B cells fight off infection and bacteria while T cells defend against viruses and cancer cells. A hormone created by the thymus gland called thymosin changes lymphocytes into T cells. The thymus gland is active when you are a child and slowly shrinks, as you get older. T cells bind to the antigens on the cells and directly attack them. T cells secrete lymphokines that increase T cell production and directly kill cells with antigens. There are three types of T cells: cytotoxic T cells, helper T cells, and memory T cells.

For instance, the adaptive immune classification is organized around a binary class of cells, namely the T and B cells, whereas the cells of the innate immune classification are considerably more in number, comprising natural killer cells, dendritic cells, and macrophages (Pulendran, Katsikis, & Schoenberger, 2011, p. 12).

Some strategies for ensuring a healthy immune system are don't smoke. Eat a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and low in saturated  fat. Excersice regularly and maintain a healthy weight. Also control your blood pressure and if you drink alcohol, drink it only in moderation and get adequate sleep. Take steps to avoid infection, such as washing your hands frequently and cooking meats  thoroughly. Every of our body, including our immune system, function better when protected from the enveronment. A healthy immune system can defeat invading pathogens and bacteria.

By cloning the LPS locus, he was able to identify a ‘toll-like receptor’ (TLR4) which acted sense the presence of invading microbes bearing LPS. Receptors of the same family, ten of which are now known to exist in humans, each ‘tuned’ to detect different kinds of microbes, also initiate inflammation to combat infection, but sometimes shock as well. It was for this work that Beutler won the Nobel Prize, and his team at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center continues to search for proteins that protect mammals against defined infections. In the process, they have identified genes required for other functions, including the regulation of iron absorption, hearing and the development of embryos

Numerous mediators of inflammation are present during the process of infection, comprising interleukin-1β (IL-1β) as well as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Mucosal cells tissues infected by Chlamydia include the dendritic cells, the epithelial cells, fibroblast, as well as the macrophages. Toll-like receptors are expressed by these cells that identify the particular pathogen-connected molecular patterns, comprising, bacterial wall mechanisms, the bacterial DNA, the peptidoglycan, as well as double-stranded RNA. It is noted that the Toll-like receptors’ engagement by the products of microbial, result to the production of the biologically-dynamic mediators, comprising the chemokines and antimicrobial peptides that participate in the inflammatory reaction (Barber, 2013).

The intestine contains 70% of the body’s circulating lymphocytes, many of which are found within the epithelium [29]. In the lamina propria there are several lines of immune cells, key to the host response to microbiota, such as macrophages, dendritic cells and myofibroblasts [30,31]. Gut lymphoid tissue, and surface and circulating immunoglobulin concentrations rise substantially with the introduction of bacteria to the gut [32]. In early human life, pioneering species in the gut interact through surface cell receptors on gut immune cells, such as caspase-recruitment-domain protein (CARD), and toll-like receptors (TLRs), to promote the expression of host genes that generate an intraluminal and mucosal environment that further favors their colonization [33,34]. Besides the TLRs there is another family of membrane-bound receptors for detection of proteins called NOD-like receptors, leucine-rich repeat containing‖ proteins (NLRs). NRLs are located in the cytoplasm and are involved in the detection of bacterial pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) that enter the mammalian cell. NRLs are especially important in tissues where TLRs are expressed at low levels [35]. In addition to intestinal epithelial cells, the epithelium includes specialized cells such as goblet cells, which secrete the protective mucus layer limiting the contact between bacteria and epithelial cells, and Paneth cells,

The lifelong debate continues, is there anything we can do as individuals to strengthen out immune system. I on one hand thinks that there are things that we can do to maintain a healthy lifestyle. According to the website reference below there are ways to adopt a healthy immune system are: balanced diet, exercise regularly to control your blood pressure, drink alcohol in moderation, and getting adequate sleep are all contributors for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and to keep our immune systems strong. Low levels of stress are also good ideas to keep blood pressure down and to keep diseases from attacking the body if our defenses are down then we are setting ourselves up for a set back. Contrary to popular belief

Cellular Basis Of Disease: Why has the discovery of Toll-like receptors revolutionised our understanding of how the innate immune system works, and what is the therapeutic potential?

Microbial products initiate Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which in turn activate the signalling pathways, causing antimicrobial genes and inflammatory cytokine induction (Janeway and Medzhitov, 2002). The TLR subfamily TLR1, TLR2, and TLR6 recognise lipids where as TLR7, TLR8, TLR9 recognise nucleic acids. TLRs are expressed on DCs, macrophages, T cells, B cells, epithelial cells and fibroblast cells, to modulate a response to pathogens and cytokines. The TIR domain of TLR involved in the interaction of TLRs and adaptor proteins such as MyD88, TRIF, TRAM, and TIRAP/MAL, regulate TLR signalling. This leads to the downstream signalling cascade of the adaptor molecules (Figure 2), stimulating proinflammatory cytokines, chemokine’s and types I and type III interferons. The adaptive immune response is also activated by antigen presenting cells (APCs), which present antigens to naïve CD4+ T cells. The naïve CD4+ T cells can be differentiated by DCs, into T helper 1 (Th1) cells, which generate interferon-y (IFN-Y) for the elimination of infected cells (Akira, Uematsu and Takeuchi, 2006) .

Inflammation is the immune system’s response to injury or infection. Acute inflammation is characterized by five signs, namely the redness, swelling, excessive heat, sometimes the loss of function, and mild to extreme pain. This process is the body’s attempt to protect us, to repair what was damaged and to begin its natural healing process. The symptoms will subside when that part of the body is healed.

The world is full of bacteria and germs that is a fact. One of the many jobs our body has it to protect us from harmful pathogens which is when our natural defense mechanisms kick in. Do we know what these natural defense mechanisms are? Our body has an immune system and barriers that play a part in preventing and/or battling the diseases attacking our body. Is there a difference between the normal functions of the body and the response it triggers that provokes a defense reaction?

Zinc is the 24th most abundant element in the earth’s crust, it is a metallic chemical element which has “exceptional biological importance” (Bonaventura et al., 2015). Zn is involved in numerous aspects of cellular metabolism such as: protein synthesis, cellular respiration, wound healing, DNA synthesis, cell division, and immune function (Bonaventura et al., 2015). For as many essential functions Zn is necessary for it also has the potential to interact with at least as many biological functions to induce adverse effects (Maret and Sandstead, 2006). For these reasons Zn deficiency and toxicity is linked to a number of diseases and particularly immune diseases affecting both the innate and adaptive immune systems (Bonaventura et al., 2015, Maares and Haase, 2016).Therefore, a disruption in Zn homeostasis can lead to compromised host defense and an increased risk of excessive inflammation (Maares and Haase, 2016).

Regrettably, a very good friend of mine did that when his wife was diagnosed with Liver Cancer, and she suffered devastating pain, uncontrollable nausea, loss of hair and other bodily functions, and eventually died prematurely from the chemotherapy. He knows now that he could have prevented that and she could have regained her health and wellness if he had been aware of the available "natural cancer treatments".

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) constitute very important players in this microbiome balance. TLRs are trans membrane non-catalytic receptor proteins that prompt activation of innate and adaptive immune responses to microorganisms through recognition of conserved molecular patterns of organisms. In order to maintain immune tolerance to the luminal microorganisms the expression of TLRs by intestinal epithelial cells is normallyat its minimal.