Thursday, September 25, 2014

In immune response, how is the secondary response to an antigen different from the primary response?

Primary immune response is when your body is first exposed
to an antigen, the first time it comes in contact with that foreign material. An antigen
is anything that is recognized as non-self, so it ranges from pollen to bacteria or
viruses.


The primary immune response takes 5-10 days to
effect the antigen, since it has to find the correct antibodies to eliminate the
antigen.  This response is also called the innate or non-specific immune
response.


Once your body has "found" the antibody, it will
store some of the cells as B cells that stay in your lymph nodes.  This is so when your
are exposed to the antigen again, and it travels through your lymphatic system, it will
reach an antibody that recognizes it, and your body doesn't need to make brand new
antibodies--it just needs to start cloning the antibody that matches that antigen.  This
is the secondary response, and it generally only takes 3-5 days for a system-wide
response, since you already have the antibody, it just needs to pick up the antigen
before it starts dividing into new cells.


The T cells are
generally used in the primary response to the antigen, since cytotoxic T cells kill
whatever they touch, while the more specific B cells are used in the secondary response,
since they are honed in to that antigen already, and will not kill off healthy,
self-cells.

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