Overview of the Mucosal Immune System

Immunoglobulin is an antibody that plays a crucial role in the immune function of mucous membranes. The amount of IgA produced in association with mucosal membranes is greater than all other types of antibody combined. 

Immune system that seemed to function independently of systemic immunity was initially proposed by Besredka (1919); he observed that rabbits, after oral immunization with killed Shiga bacillus, were protected against fatal dysentery irrespective of the serum antibody titer. Davies (1922) obtained evidence in soldiers stationed around Jerusalem, to suggest for the first time the presence of local immunity in humans

Innate immunity is the first immunological mechanism for fighting against an intruding pathogen. It is a rapid immune response, initiated within minutes or hours after aggression, that has no immunologic memory. The innate immune response has no immunologic memory and, therefore, it is unable to recognize or “memorize” the same pathogen should the body be exposed to it in the future. Adaptive immunity, on the other hand, is antigen-dependent and antigen-specific.

Adaptive immunity, on the other hand, is antigen-dependent and antigen-specific; it has the capacity for memory, which enables the host to mount a more rapid and efficient immune response upon subsequent exposure to the antigen.  There is a great deal of synergy between the adaptive immune system and its innate counterpart, and defects in either system can provoke illness or disease, such as inappropriate inflammation, autoimmune diseases, immunodeficiency disorders and hypersensitivity reactions.

Regards

Journal of Mucosal Immunology Research

John Geroge.