Korean J Pediatr.  2005 Nov;48(11):1153-1161.

Infection and Innate Immunity

• Oh MY

Abstract

As known by other name (natural immunity), the innate immune system comprises all those mechanisms for dealing with infection that are constitutive or built in, changing little with age or with experience of infection. Though in some ways less sophisticated than adaptive immunity, innate immunity should not belittled, since it has evidently protected thousands of species of invertebrates sufficiently to survive for up to 2 billion years. In the innate immune system, molecules of both cellular and humoral types are involved, corresponding to the need to recognize and dispose of different types of pathogen, to promote inflammatory responses and to interact to the adaptive immune system. A major features of innate immunity are the presence of the normal gut flora, complements, macrophages, dendritic cells, natural killer cells and many cytokines that can block the establishment of infection. Both phagocytic cells and complement system have tremendous potential for damaging host cells, but fortunately they are normally only triggered by foreign materials, and usually most of their destructive effects are focussed on the surface of these or in the safe environment of the phagolysosome. This article addreses the comprehensive mechanisms of the major components of the innate immune system to prevent the infection.

Keyword

Innate immunity; Complements; Phagocytes; Infection