Consists

of two semi-independent parts:

(1) Network of lymphatic vessels (2) Various lymphoid tissues and organs

lymphatic system consists of organs, ducts, and nodes. It transports a watery clear fluid called lymph. This fluid distributes immune cells and other factors throughout the body. It also interacts with the blood circulatory system to drain fluid from cells and tissues. The lymphatic system contains immune cells called lymphocytes, which protect the body against antigens (viruses, bacteria, etc.) that invade the body. I t is an abnormal cells of this type that cause lymphoma

The

Lymphoma is a disease in which malignant lymphocytes grow too fast or live too long. These cells may then accumulate in the lymph nodes or other areas of the lymphatic system to form tumors. When these cells accumulate in lymph nodes it's often called adenopathy the enlargement of the lymph nodes; but adenopathy can have other causes.

collect and return interstitial fluid, including plasma protein to the blood, and thus help maintain fluid balance, to defend the body against disease by producing lymphocytes, to absorb lipids from the intestine and transport them to the blood."
"to

Lymphatic Capillaries - spiderweb between the tissues cells and blood capillaries in the loose connective tissues ob the body. They are the smallest lymphatic vessels. 70 percent - superficial capillaries that are located near, or just under, the skin. 30 percent - deep lymphatic capillaries that surround most of the bodys organs.

As shown in the animation, Pressure from the fluid surrounding the capillary forces cells to separate for a moment to allow lymph to enter the capillary. Then, the cells of the wall close together. This does not allow the lymph to leave the capillary. Instead it is forced to move forward.

pick upthe excess fluid (lymph) and return it to the bloodstream.  are found in all regions of the body except the bone marrow, central nervous system, and tissues, such as the epidermis, that lack blood vessels. The wall of the lymph capillary is composed of endothelium in which the simple squamous cells overlap to form a simple one-way valve. This arrangement permits fluid to enter the capillary but prevents lymph from leaving the vessel.


vessels, or simply lymph vessels, are tubular structures responsible for carrying lymph throughout the human body, much as blood vessels convey blood. These vessels are a vital part of the lymphatic system, which supports the human immune and circulatory systems, filters toxins and waste products from somatic cells and tissues, and aids in the production of certain protein molecules. The lymphatic system has a one-way cycle that moves lymph upwards through the human body.
Lymphatic

vessels are devoted to propulsion of the lymph from the lymph capillaries, which are mainly concerned with absorption of interstitial fluid from the tissues. Lymph Lymph is a fluid similar in composition to blood plasma. It is derived from blood plasma as fluids pass through capillary walls at the arterial end. As the interstitial fluid begins to accumulate, it is picked up and removed by tiny lymphatic vessels and returned to the blood. As soon as the interstitial fluid enters the lymph capillaries, it is called lymph. Returning the fluid to the blood prevents edema and helps to maintain normal blood volume and pressure.
Lymph

Propulsion of lymph through lymph vessel

The functional unit of a lymph vessel is known as a lymphangion, which is the segment between two valves. Since it is contractile, depending upon the ratio of its length to its radius, it can act either like a contractile chamber propelling the fluid ahead, or as a resistance vessel tending to stop the lymph in its place.

The lymphatic system does not have a pump to aid in its flow, instead this system is designed so that lymph only flows upward through the body traveling from the extremities (feet and hands) and upward through the body toward the neck. As it travels through the body, lymph passes through lymph nodes where it is filtered. At the base of the neck, the lymph enters the subclavian veins and once again becomes plasma in the bloodstream.

afferent lymph vessels are similar to veins in that they transport fluid into the lymph nodes, while the efferent vessels are similar to arteries, carrying filtered lymph away from the lymph nodes.

The lymph vessels converge into two main collecting ducts: the shorter, right lymphatic duct, drains lymph from the right side of the head, neck, thorax, and right upper extremity into the right subclavian vein.
the longer, thoracic duct, collects lymph from the rest of the body, which empties about 100 ml of lymph every hour into the left subclavian vein.

Lymphatic organs are characterized by clusters of lymphocytes and other cells, such as macrophages, enmeshed in a framework of short, branching connective tissue fibers. The lymphocytes originate in the red bone marrow with other types of blood cells and are carried in the blood from the bone marrow to the lymphatic organs. When the body is exposed to microorganisms and other foreign substances, the lymphocytes proliferate within the lymphatic organs and are sent in the blood to the site of the invasion. This is part of the immune response that attempts to destroy the invading agent.

Lymph

nodes

several hundred lymph nodes are scattered throughout the body especially in the groin, armpits, abdomen and neck but not present in the nervous system. Like filters, lymph nodes remove antigens (foreign bodies) from lymph. This filtering process is one of the most important body defences against infectious disease. The results are often visible as "swollen glands" in the neck. Tests have demonstrated that over 99% of the bacteria carried into a node are screened out before the lymph leaves the node on its return to the blood. Each lymph node also produces lymphocytes. These infection-fighting white blood cells produce antibodies that identify and destroy the filtered antigens. Lymph nodes also contain macrophages that help clear the lymph of bacteria,
cellular debris, and other foreign material.

The typical lymph node is surrounded by a connective tissue capsule and divided into compartments called lymph nodules. The lymph nodules are dense masses of lymphocytes and macrophages and are separated by spaces called lymph sinuses. Several afferent lymphatic vessels, which carry lymph into the node, enter the node on the convex side. The lymph moves through the lymph sinuses and enters an efferent Because there are more afferent lymphatic vessel, which carries vessels than efferent vessels, the passage of lymph through the sinuses is the lymph away from the node. slowed down, which allow time for the cleansing process. The efferent vessel leaves the node at an indented region called the hilum.

Tonsils are clusters of lymphatic tissue just under the mucous membranes that line the nose, mouth, and throat (pharynx). There are three groups of tonsils. The pharyngeal tonsils are located near the opening of the nasal cavity into the pharynx. When these tonsils become enlarged they may interfere with breathing and are called adenoids. The palatine tonsils are the ones that are located near the opening of the oral cavity into the pharynx. Lingual tonsils are located on the posterior surface of the tongue, which also places them near the opening of the oral cavity into the pharynx. Lymphocytes and macrophages in the tonsils provide protection against harmful substances and pathogens that may enter the body through the nose or mouth.

is located in the upper left abdominal cavity, just beneath the diaphragm, and posterior to the stomach. It is similar to a lymph node in shape and structure but it is much larger and is the largest lymphoid organ, containing two types of tissue: red pulp, which contains many red blood cells (erythrocytes) and macrophages. The macrophages remove foreign substances and damaged or dead erythrocytes and platelets from the blood. The red pulp also stores platelets, which are important for blood clotting. white pulp, which stores lymphocytes, used for the body immune system.

The spleen filters blood in much the way that the lymph nodes filter lymph. Lymphocytes in the spleen react to pathogens(agent of disease: something that can cause disease, e.g. a bacterium or a virus) in the blood and attempt to destroy them. Macrophages then engulf the resulting debris, the damaged cells, and the other large particles. The spleen, along with the liver, removes old and damaged erythrocytes from the circulating blood. Like other lymphatic tissue, it produces lymphocytes, especially in response to invading pathogens. The sinuses in the spleen are a reservoir for blood. In emergencies such as haemorrhage, smooth muscle in the vessel walls and in the capsule of the spleen contracts. This squeezes the blood out of the spleen into the general circulation.

The thymus is a soft organ with two lobes that is located anterior to the ascending aorta and posterior to the sternum. It is relatively large in infants and children but after puberty it begins to decrease in size so that in older adults it is quite small. The primary function of the thymus is the processing and maturation of special lymphocytes called T-lymphocytes or Tcells. While in the thymus, the lymphocytes do not respond to pathogens and foreign agents. After the lymphocytes have matured, they enter the blood and go to other lymphatic organs where they help provide defense against disease. The thymus also produces a hormone, thymosin, which stimulates the maturation of lymphocytes in other lymphatic organs.

group of cells, molecules, and organs that act together to defend the body against foreign invaders that may cause disease, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi. The health of the body is dependent on the immune systems ability to recognize and then repel or destroy these invaders.

ability to defend against infectious agents, foreign cells, and abnormal body cells including cancer. include barriers to entry, inflammatory reaction, and protective proteins.

Skin and mucous membranes line respiratory, digestive and urinary tracts; form mechanical barrier to entry by microbes. Oil gland secretions contain chemical that weakens bacteria on skin. Cilia and mucus in respiratory tract sweep up or trap particles. Stomach acids inhibit bacterial growth in stomach. A mix of natural harmless bacteria in intestine and vagina prevent pathogens from growing.

formed against a specific foreign agent, bacteria, or protein. able to distinguish self from nonself. -antigens are proteins or carbohydrate chain of a glycoprotein within a plasma membrane that the body recognizes as nonself. -lasts for some time; for instance, usually cannot get measles a second time. -result of two types of lymphocytes: a. B Lymphocytes Derived from and mature in the bone marrow. Become plasma cells that produce and secrete antibodies into blood. b. T Lymphocytes Derived from the bone marrow. Mature in the thymus gland. Either directly attack antigen-bearing cells or help regulate the immune response.

Innate immunity

or nonspecific, immunity is the natural resistance with which a person is born. It provides resistance through several physical, chemical, and cellular approaches. Microbes first encounter the epithelial layers, physical barriers that line our skin and mucous membranes. Subsequent general defenses include secreted chemical signals (cytokines), antimicrobial substances, fever, and phagocytic activity associated with the inflammatory response. The phagocytes express cell surface receptors that can bind and respond to common molecular patterns expressed on the surface of invading microbes. Through these approaches, innate immunity can prevent the colonization, entry, and spread of microbes.

Adaptive immunity

is often sub-divided into two major types depending on how the immunity was introduced. Naturally acquired immunity occurs through contact with a disease causing agent, when the contact was not deliberate, whereas artificially acquired immunity develops only through deliberate actions such as vaccination. Both naturally and artificially acquired immunity can be further subdivided depending on whether immunity is induced in the host or passively transferred from a immune host. Passive immunity is acquired through transfer of antibodies or activated T-cells from an immune host, and is short lived -- usually lasting only a few months -- whereas active immunity is induced in the host itself by antigen, and lasts much longer, sometimes life-long.

A. Macrophages White blood cells are the mainstay of the immune system. Some white blood cells, known as macrophages, play a function in innate immunity by surrounding, ingesting, and destroying invading bacteria and other foreign organisms in a process called phagocytosis (literally, cell eating), which is part of the inflammatory reaction. Macrophages also play an important role in adaptive immunity in that they attach to invading antigens and deliver them to be destroyed by other components of the adaptive immune system.

Lymphocytes are specialized white blood cells whose function is to identify and destroy invading antigens. All lymphocytes begin as stem cells in the bone marrow, the soft tissue that fills most bone cavities, but they mature in two different places. Some lymphocytes mature in the bone marrow and are called B lymphocytes. B lymphocytes, or B cells, make antibodies, which circulate through the blood and other body fluids, binding to antigens and helping to destroy them in humoral immune responses. Other lymphocytes, called T lymphocytes, or T cells, mature in the thymus, a small glandular organ located behind the breastbone. Some T lymphocytes, called cytotoxic (cellpoisoning) or killer T lymphocytes, generate cell-mediated immune responses, directly destroying cells that have specific antigens on their surface that are recognized by the killer T cells. Helper T lymphocytes, a second kind of T lymphocyte, regulate the immune system by controlling the strength and quality of all immune responses.

Most contact between antigens and lymphocytes occurs in the lymphoid organsthe lymph nodes, spleen, and tonsils, as well as specialized areas of the intestine and lungs . Mature lymphocytes constantly travel through the blood to the lymphoid organs and then back to the blood again. This recirculation ensures that the body is continuously monitored for invading substances.

One of the characteristics of adaptive immunity is that it is specific: Each response is tailored to a specific type of invading antigen. Each lymphocyte, as it matures, makes an antigen receptorthat is, a specific structure on its surface that can bind with a matching structure on the antigen like a lock and key. Although lymphocytes can make billions of different kinds of antigen receptors, each individual lymphocyte makes only one kind. When an antigen enters the body, it activates only the lymphocytes whose receptors match up with it.

When an antigen enters a body cell, certain transport molecules within the cell attach themselves to the antigen and transport it to the surface of the cell, where they present the antigen to T lymphocytes. These transport molecules are made by a group of genes called the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and are therefore known as MHC molecules. Some MHC molecules, called class I MHC molecules, present antigens to killer T cells; other MHC molecules, called class II MHC molecules, present antigens to helper T cells.

A. Allergy Allergy, sometimes called hypersensitivity, is caused by immune responses to some antigens. Antigens that provoke an allergic response are known as allergens. The two major categories of allergic reaction, rapid and delayed, correspond to the two major types of immune responses. Rapid allergic reactions, such as those to bee venom, pollen or pets, are caused by humoral immune mechanisms. These immediate hypersensitivity reactions result from the production of IGE antibodies when a person is first exposed to an allergen. The IGE antibodies become attached to mast cellswhite blood cells containing histamine, the chemical that causes the familiar allergic symptoms of runny nose, watery eyes, and sneezing. Mast cells are particularly abundant in the lungs and intestine. If the antigenbinding sites of mast cells become filled with an allergen, the mast cells release histamine.

B. Transplant Rejection

The immune system recognizes and attacks anything different from the substances normally present within an individual, even substances that are only slightly different, such as transplanted tissues and organs. When an organ is transplanted, the MHC of the donor organ is recognized as foreign and attacked by the recipients immune system. To minimize the chances of transplant rejection, physicians seek transplant donors who share as many MHC genes as possible with the transplant recipient. Even then, most transplant recipients are given drugs to suppress their immune response and prevent rejection of the transplant. If the transplanted tissue contains T lymphocytes from the donor, as in bone marrow transplants, these donor T lymphocytes may recognize the recipients tissues as foreign and attack them. Physicians can reduce or prevent this potentially fatal graftversus-host (GVH) reaction by removing all mature T lymphocytes from the organ or tissue before performing the transplant.

Deficiencies in immune function may be either inherited or acquired. Inherited immune deficiencies usually reflect the failure of a gene important to the generation or function of immune system components. Some inherited diseases damage a persons innate immunity by making macrophages incapable of ingesting or breaking down invading organisms. Individuals affected by these diseases are especially susceptible to opportunistic infectionsthat is, infections by normally harmless organisms that can flourish in a person whose immune system has been weakened. DiGeorge syndrome is an inherited immune disorder in which a person has no thymus and, therefore, cannot produce mature T lymphocytes. People with this disorder can mount only limited humoral immune responses, and their cell-mediated immune responses are severely limited. The most extreme example of a hereditary immune deficiency is severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). Individuals with this disease completely lack both T and B lymphocytes and thus have no adaptive immune responses. People with SCID must live in a completely sterile environment, or else they will quickly die from infections.

Acquired immune deficiencies can be caused by infections and also other agents. For example, radiation therapy and some kinds of drugs used in treating disease reduce lymphocyte production, resulting in damaged immune function. People undergoing such therapies must be carefully monitored for lowered immune function and susceptibility to infections. Environmental and lifestyle factors, such as poor nutrition or stress, can also affect the immune systems general status. An infectious agent resulting in fatal immune deficiency is the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This virus causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) by infecting and eventually destroying helper T cells. Because helper T cells regulate all immune responses, their loss results in an inability to make adaptive immune responses. This complete lack of immune function makes individuals with AIDS highly susceptible to all infectious agent

Cherie Mae

T. Coquilla

Aynrand--Nhefertiti Albani Pauline Marie Julia

Mandi

Monica Infante

[GROUP o1]