Immune system

immune system

n.

The integrated body system of organs, tissues, cells, and cell products that differentiates self from nonself and neutralizes potentially pathogenic organisms or substances.

---

Immune system

The system of the body that is responsible for producing various cells and chemicals that fight off infection by viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other foreign invaders. In autoimmune disease, these cells and chemicals are turned against the body itself.

Mentioned in: Antiretroviral Drugs, Antirheumatic Drugs, Antituberculosis Drugs, Bites and Stings, Cancer Therapy, Supportive, Cat-Scratch Disease, Cerebrospinal Fluid Analysis, Chickenpox, Crohn's Disease, Discoid Lupus Erythematosus, Gammaglobulin, Idiopathic Infiltrative Lung Diseases, Immunologic Therapies, Immunosuppressant Drugs, Lymphocyte Typing, Nephrotic Syndrome, Prophylaxis, Q Fever, Rheumatic Fever, Sarcoidosis, Sjögren's Syndrome, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Ulcerative Colitis, Vaginal Pain, Vasculitis, Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome

---

immune system,

n the group of organs, cells, and chemicals that protect the body from harmful viruses, bacteria, and abnormal cells. It includes bone marrow, proteins, the thymus, the spleen, the lymphocytes, and other white blood cells.

---

immune system,

n a biochemical complex that protects the body against pathogenic organisms and other foreign bodies. It incorporates the humoral immune response, which produces antibodies to react with specific antigents, and the cell-mediated response, which uses T cells to mobilize tissue macrophages in the presence of a foreign body. It also protects the body from invasion by creating local barriers and inflammation. The principal organs include the bone marrow, the thymus, and the lymphoid tissues.

immune system, duality of,

n the division of lymphocyte white blood cells into two classes of cells, types B and T. Type B cells help develop humoral immunities, while type T cells are active in cellular immunity.