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Interferon type I responses in primary and secondary infections
Author(s) -
Alsharifi Mohammed,
Müllbacher Arno,
Regner Matthias
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
immunology and cell biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0818-9641
DOI - 10.1038/sj.icb.7100159
Subject(s) - immunology , immune system , interferon , biology , acquired immune system , interferon type i , innate immune system , antigen
The mammalian host responds to a microbial infection with a rapid innate immune reaction that is dominated by type I interferon (IFN‐I) release. Most cells of vertebrates can respond to microbial attack with IFN‐I production, but the cell type responsible for most of the systemic IFN‐I release is thought to be plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs). Besides its anti‐microbial and especially anti‐viral properties IFN‐I also exerts a regulatory role on many facets of the sequential adaptive immune response. One of these is being the recently described partial, systemic activation of the vast majority of B and T lymphocytes in mice, irrespective of antigen reactivity. The biological significance of this partial activation of lymphocytes is at present speculative. Secondary infections occurring within a short time span of a primary infection fail to elicit a similar lymphocyte activation response due to a refractory period in systemic IFN‐I production. This period of exhaustion in IFN‐I responses is associated with an increased susceptibility of the host to secondary infections. The latter correlates with well‐established clinical observations of heightened susceptibility of patients to secondary microbial infections after viral episodes.