Fundamentals of Host Defense and Innate Immunity
Author:
Robert V. House, M.S.P.H., Ph.D.Summary:
Host defense is a common feature of all metazoan animals, which dictates the need for an evolutionarily conserved system of humoral and cellular elements dedicated to this goal. Innate or "natural" immunity has historically been seen as inferior to adaptive immunity; however, this is patently incorrect, as new data are clearly demonstrating. Innate immunity is not a discrete entity, but rather a part of a larger continuum -- a collection of integrated systems -- as this presentation discusses.
Innate immunity is controlled by the nervous and endocrine systems in a dynamic feedback loop mechanism.
