The present study investigated the effect of treatment with methanolic extracts Yin- and Yang-Chinese tonifying herbs on concanavalin A (Con A)/lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated splenocyte proliferation (adaptive immunity) natural killer (NK) cell activity (innate in an ex vivo mouse model. results indicated that while most Yin herbal potentiated Con A/LPS-stimulated proliferation, only Yang ...

The complement system is typically regarded as an effector arm of innate immunity, leading to recognition and killing of microbial invaders in body fluids. Consequently, pathogens have engaged in an arms race, evolving molecules that can interfere with proper complement responses. However, complement is no longer viewed as an isolated system, and links with other immune mechanisms are continual...

The antigen receptors on cells of innate immune systems recognize broadly expressed markers on non-host cells while the receptors on lymphocytes of the adaptive immune system display a higher level of specificity. Adaptive immunity, with its exquisite specificity and immunological memory, has only been found in the jawed vertebrates, which also display innate immunity. Jawless fishes and invert...

Lung defences are dependant on a complex array of mechanisms in the upper airways, which must to be differentiated from those of the distal airways. However, the first lines of defence in the proximal and distal airways are predominantly based on mechanical barriers and several mechanisms related to innate immunity. If pathogens or antigens reach the interstitium, dendritic cells will take up t...

The innate immune system is composed of a diverse set of host defense molecules, physical barriers, and specialized leukocytes and is the primary form of immune defense against environmental insults. Another crucial role of innate immunity is to shape the long-lived adaptive immune response mediated by T and B lymphocytes. The activation of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) from the Toll-lik...

The successful control of HBV infection requires an efficient expansion of distinct elements of the adaptive immune system (B cells, helper and cytotoxic T cells) that, due to the hepatotropic nature of HBV, need to operate in the liver parenchyma. In this respect, we will discuss broad features of HBV immunity in patients with resolved or chronic HBV infection and analyze how the liver environ...

Since Jules Freund reported that crude mycobacterial extracts greatly promoted immune responses to antigens (1), the use of adjuvants has become a widespread, but poorly understood practice to promote T and B cell responses (2). Recent studies have begun to identify the chemical nature of several adjuvants and the cellular and molecular mechanisms of their long-elusive immunologi-cal effects. F...

Only a handful of the more than 100,000 fungal species on our planet cause disease in humans, yet the number of life-threatening fungal infections in patients has recently skyrocketed as a result of advances in medical care that often suppress immunity intensely. This emerging crisis has created pressing needs to clarify immune defense mechanisms against fungi, with the ultimate goal of therape...