Results in production of proteins called

immunoglobulins or antibodies.
Body exposed to foreign material termed
antigen which may be harmful to body:
virus, bacteria, etc.
Antigen has bypassed other protective
mechanisms, ie, first and second line of
defense.

Primary immune response

Latent period
Gradual rise in antibody production taking days to
weeks
Plateau reached
Antibody level declines

Antibody production

Initial antibody produced in IgM

Lasts 10-12 days
Followed by production of IgG
Lasts 4-5 days
Without continued antigenic challenge antibody
levels drop off, although IgG may continue to be
produced.

alagphasewherenoantibodyisdetected
alogphaseinwhichtheantibodytiterrises
logarithmically
aplateauphaseduringwhichtheantibodytiter
stabilizes
aphase(decline)duringwhichtheantibodyis
clearedorcatabilized

Second exposure to SAME antigen.

Memory cells are a beautiful thing.
Recognition of antigen is immediate.
Results in immediate production of
protective antibody, mainly IgG but may see
some IgM

APC

APC

APC

TH

TH
B

APC

The Microbial antigen is

ingested by an APC and
partially digested. Fragments
from microbe bind with the
MHC II to form a MHC II /Ag
complex on the surface of the
APC

APC

APC

TH

A Helper T cell, specific

for the presented
antigen, binds to the
MHC II/Ag complex

Memory cells do not react right away but

are held in reserve for later infections. The
secondary response that is carried out by
memory cells is different in 3 ways.
Memory cells produce antibodies that bind with greater
affinity to their antigens than the antibodies produced in
the initial response.
The response time is much faster than the primary
response
A greater number of antibodies are produced.

Virgin lymphocyte pool

PRIMARY RESPONSE

effector cells

memory cell pool

SECONDARY
RESPONSE
effector cells memory cell pool

antibod
y titer

IgM

IgG
time

Timecourse
Antibodytiter
Antibodyclass
Antibodyaffinity

Antibodies function in
6 ways to protect the
body
Agglutination:
Enhances phagocytosis
and reduces number of
infectious units to be
dealt with
Opsonization: Coating
antigen with antibody
enhances phagocytosis
Neutralization: blocks
adhesion of bacteria and
viruses to mucosa. Also
blocks active site of toxin

Activation of
complement

Increases inflammation
through the byproducts of
the complement system
(C5a and C3a)

Antibody dependant
cell mediated
cytotoxicity: Antibodies
attached to target cell
cause destruction by non
specific immune system
cells.