FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE
SPRING 2010

Dr. Marcia C. Coss

1. What is the difference between antigenic drift and antigenic shift?
2. What is viral latency? Why is this important?
3. List and describe 5 defense mechanisms of the immune system to protect against infection.
4. List and describe the mechanisms pathogens have developed to evade the defenses of the immune system you listed in question #3.
5. What is the difference between a primary and a secondary immune deficiency?
6. What is the number one cause of immunodeficiency in the world? In developed countries?
7. What are the 2 different forms of leprosy? How do the immune responses differ in the two types and how does that lead to the different forms of the disease?
8. When was the first immunodeficiency disease identified? What was it? What is the cause of the disease?  What is the immune defect?
9. Give examples of the 12 possible major sites of involvement of immunodeficiency disorders.
10. What general patterns of infection would you see with the following deficiencies? Stem cell. T-cell. B-cell. Phagocyte. Complement.
11. List and describe defects that result in SCID ( severe combined immunodeficiency) phenotype   
12. Thymus hypoplasia/abnormalities: DiGeorge syndrome
13. T-cell deficiencies:   Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (what is the defect?)
14. NK defects:  Chediak-Higashi syndrome (what is the defect?)
15. B-cell deficiencies:  A)  XLA: X-linked agammaglobulinemia (Bruton's)     B)  Immunodeficiency with hyper-IgM
      C)  Transient hypogammaglobulinemia of infancy        D)Selective IgA hypogammaglobulinemia
16. Phagocyte defects:   A)  LAD - leukocyte adhesion deficiency       B)  CGD - chronic granulomatous disease
17. Complement defects:   Heriditary neurotic angioedema
18. What are several causes of secondary immunodeficiencies?
19. What are several non-immunological abnormalities that may lead to increased susceptibility to infection?
20. AIDS
  Define HIV and AIDS
  Describe the HIV viral structure & genome characteristics
  Describe the normal replication mechanisms of HIV
  What role do the chemokine receptors play?
  Discuss the cause of depletion of CD4+ T cells
  Discuss the role of CD8+ T cells
  Describe the immune reponse during the course of HIV/AIDS including the categories based on CD4+ T-cell number
  Describe approaches to treatment
  Describe approaches to vaccines
  What does AIDS screening tell you?

Chapter 13: Allergy and Hypersensitivity

  1. What are the four types of immune-mediated hypersensitivities? How do they differ? How does each type mediate its tissue damage? What are the effector mechanisms? What is the time course for each type?
  2. What is an allergen?
  3.  IgE allergic reactions are classified according to their clinical effects (syndrome), describe the differences between the classes?
  4.  What is atopy? How does it relate to allergic asthma?
  5.  How does an allergic response occur?
  6.  What is desensitization and how does it work? Why is this done?
  7. What are the different routes of entry for allergens? How does the dose and route of entry affect the response?
  8.  What are some common features of inhaled allergens and how do these features affect the immune response?
10. How do genetic factors contribute to an allergic response?
11. How does the cytokine environment affect the allergic response?
12.  What is anaphylaxis? How does systemic anaphylaxis occur?
13.  What is urticaria?  What is it a response to?
14. How are the different phases of allergic responses treated?
15. What is the wheal and flare reaction?
16. What are the two different populations of mast cells? How do their effects differ when triggererd?
17. What is meant by preformed mediators of mast cells? How do these differ from the newly formed mediators? What effect do mast cell mediators have on different tissues? What about eosinophil mediators?
18. What is the difference between immediate and late phase allergic responses?
19. How do Type II and Type III hypersensitivities differ?
20. What are immune complexes? Why can they become a problem?
21. What is serum sickness? When is it seen? How does it occur? What it's time course?
22. What does DTH stand for? How does it occur? What is the time course? What cytokines are involved in the response?
23.   What are three types of Type IV hypersensitivities? How do the consequences differ?
24.   What is contact hypersensitivity? How does this play a role in poison ivy?
25.   What cytokines are involved in a DTH reaction?
26.   Why doesn't everyone suffer from allergies?

Chapter 14: Immune Response in the Absence of Infection

1. What is autoimmunity? How is it caused? What is the relationship between autoimmunity and genetic and environmental factors? What are the mechanisms of tissue damage?
2. What is IDDM? What is the relationship between IDDM and MHC HLA genes? What is the mechanism of this disease?
3. What is autoimmune hemolytic anemia? What type of hypersensitivity is this? How and when does it occur?
4.  What is Goodpasture's syndrome? How does it occur?
5. What is the difference between tissue-, organ-, and systemic autoimmune diseases?
6. What is Grave's disease? What is the autoantigen? What is the mechanism of the disease?
7. What is myasthenia gravis? What is the autoantigen? What is the mechanism of the disease?
8. What is SLE? What is the common autoantigen? What is the mechanism of this disease?
9. How can an autoimmune disease be diagnosed?
10. Why is a Type II or III autoimmune disease easier to diagnose than a Type IV autoimmune disease?
11. What is EAE? How was it determined that myelin basic protein was the autoantigen? What disease is EAE a model for? What is the basis for these diseases?
12. What is the cause(s) of Rheumatoid arthritis? What is the rheumatoid factor?
13. What are the immunologically privileged sites? The theory of immunological privilege?
14. What is the relationship between autoimmunity and infection?
15. What is molecular mimicry? What is epitope spreading?
16. What are the mechanisms in which infectious agents could break self tolerance?
17. What is the carrier effect?
18. What is an anti-idiotypic antibody? How might they arise and what might their effect be? What is a possible role for anti-idiotypic antibodies?

Top of page

Page last updated:  May 4, 2010