Clinical immunology

Localised lymph nodes enlargement due to drainage of pathogenic material or tumour cells
(NB enlarged nodes may also be due to primary lymph cell malignancy)
Enlarged spleen - (see lymph node enlargement) - less likely for tumour invasion

Passive Immunisation / Vaccination- provision of specific donor antibodies to confer rapid but temporary immunity to disease (e.g. Hep A antibody)
Passive immunity (from mother's milk) - transmission of maternal antibodies to infant, no memory, temporary effect (until infant can produce own antibodies)
Anti-D /Ig (anti-RhD) - 'antibody against antibody', neutralises Anti-Rh D antibody, prevent fetal rhesus +ve cells sensitising maternal blood and developing a memory
Immunosuppressants - to prevent immune response against donor organs (transplant rejection)

Disruption of mucocutaneous surfaces allow the entrance of pathogens e.g. skin trauma, urinary catheters
Altered of flow of secretions increases susceptibility to infection e.g. smoking and ciliary function, endotracheal intubation and coughing, foreign bodies
Foreign bodies
Reduced vascular supply
Abscesses / Collections

Primary (congenital) - usually affect immune cells but may due to defect in humoral substances like complement (80 different variations)
Secondary (acquired) - due to immunosupressant drugs and HIV

An excessive immune reaction to a foreign material that directly or indrectly results in organ damage (e.g. anaphylaxis, auto-immune disease)

An immune response that results in direct attack of 'self' (due to a defect in adaptive immunity)
Often antibodies are first generated in response to 'non-self' antigens
Antibodies then cross-react with 'self'
Results in a number of chronic inflammatory conditions (e.g. dermatitis, rheumatological conditons, renal disease)
Removal of the 'non-self' antigen may sometimes reduce the immune reaction e.g. gluten elimination and Coeliac disease
May also occur in previously immunoprivileged site which has been damaged e.g. testis - sperm antibodies, eye - retinal antibodies

Theory that a contributing cause of cancer is the loss of adequate immunosurveillance and removal of malignant cells

IgE - elevated in chronic allergens and parasite infections
igM- elevated in acute infection
IgG - elevated in past infection
PCR (polymerase chain reaction) - a lab method that amplifies minute quantities of DNA segments of a pathogen that are usually undetectable with normal methods)

Active immunisation / Vaccination - exposure of immune system to non-pathogenic antigens to stimulate antibody production against known pathogens
Killed vaccine - Vaccines which contain
Pooled Ig infusion - chemical (immune complexes) or pharmacological (competes with Fc receptor) antagonism, ^ antibody destruction via activation of innate system
Anti-venom - antibodies that are developed as an antidote to toxins
Fab fragments - synthesised Ig particles developed as an antidote to neutralise drugs or poisons.

* antibodies can be synthesised or induced by injecting an antigen into a host animal and recovering the formed antiboidies from the serum.

Process by which blood from a patient is passed through a machine and auto-antibodies are removed before returned to circulation.
Used in acute auto-immune diseases

Synthesised by molecular biological techniques
Huge growth industry
Various applications - antibodies against cancer cells (can be also be tagged with radio- and chemo-pharmaceuticals), bind specific antigens to detect disease, treatment by competitive antagonism of auto-antibodies, target and neutralise components of immune system (e.g. complement, TNF)