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Intentional Pathogen Killing – or Denial of Substrate?
Author(s) -
Cunliffe J.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.934
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3083
pISSN - 0300-9475
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3083.2007.02017.x
Subject(s) - immune system , denial , biology , pathogen , evasion (ethics) , function (biology) , suspect , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , evolutionary biology , psychology , criminology , psychoanalysis
For years, the accepted view in immunology has been that a core function of the immune system is to identify and eliminate invading micro‐organisms (generally referred to as ‘pathogens’). Metaphorically, the system locates, chases, attacks, kills, disposes of and eliminates ‘pathogens’. This is encapsulated in the phrase ‘intentional pathogen killing’. This purpose has remained, more or less, unchallenged until the 1990s but its authority is now becoming suspect. In a series of published articles, I have suggested that the core function of the immune (or morphostatic) system is to dispose of tissue debris (mess/non‐mess discrimination) and restore order. The debris of degenerating cells provides a rich source of nutrients for micro‐organisms. Could it be that the major goal of the immune system is to rapidly dispose of such debris? This strategy could lead to a ‘denial‐of‐nutrient‐substrate’ that starves invading bacteria out of contention and, in consequence, suppresses infection. This perspective can be adapted to encompass the patho‐physiology of other infective organisms. While this perspective sits well with the morphostasis model, it could also be applied to other models.