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Immunodeficiency
 
 
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Immunodeficiency (or immune deficiency) is a state in which the immune system
Immune system

An immune system is a collection of biological processes within an organism that protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumour cells....
's ability to fight infectious disease
Infectious disease

An infectious disease is a clinically evident disease resulting from the presence of pathogenic microbial agents, including pathogenic viruses, pathogenic bacteria, Mycosis, protozoa, multicellular parasites, and aberrant proteins known as prions....
 is compromised or entirely absent. Most cases of immunodeficiency are acquired ("secondary") but some people are born with defects in the immune system, or primary immunodeficiency
Primary immunodeficiency

Primary immunodeficiencies are disorders in which part of the body's immune system is missing or does not function properly. To be considered a primary immunodeficiency, the cause of the immune deficiency must not be secondary in nature ....
. Transplant patients take medications to suppress their immune system as an anti-rejection measure, as do some patients suffering from an over-active immune system.






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Immunodeficiency (or immune deficiency) is a state in which the immune system
Immune system

An immune system is a collection of biological processes within an organism that protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumour cells....
's ability to fight infectious disease
Infectious disease

An infectious disease is a clinically evident disease resulting from the presence of pathogenic microbial agents, including pathogenic viruses, pathogenic bacteria, Mycosis, protozoa, multicellular parasites, and aberrant proteins known as prions....
 is compromised or entirely absent. Most cases of immunodeficiency are acquired ("secondary") but some people are born with defects in the immune system, or primary immunodeficiency
Primary immunodeficiency

Primary immunodeficiencies are disorders in which part of the body's immune system is missing or does not function properly. To be considered a primary immunodeficiency, the cause of the immune deficiency must not be secondary in nature ....
. Transplant patients take medications to suppress their immune system as an anti-rejection measure, as do some patients suffering from an over-active immune system. A person who has an immunodeficiency of any kind is said to be immunocompromised. An immunocompromised person may be particularly vulnerable to opportunistic infection
Opportunistic infection

An opportunistic infection is an infection caused by pathogens that usually do not cause disease in a healthy immune system. A Immunodeficiency, however, presents an "opportunity" for the pathogen to infect....
s, in addition to normal infections that could affect everyone.

Types


Primary immunodeficiency


A number of rare disease
Rare disease

A rare disease has such a low prevalence in a population that a physician in a busy general practice would not expect to see more than one case a year....
s feature a heightened susceptibility to infection
Infection

An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. In an infection, the infecting organism seeks to utilize the host resources to multiply ....
s from childhood onward. Many of these disorders are hereditary
Genetic disorder

A genetic disorder is an illness caused by abnormalities in genes or chromosomes. While some diseases, such as cancer, are due in part to a genetic disorders, they can also be caused by Environment factors....
 and are autosomal recessive or X-linked
Sex linkage

Sex linkage is the phenotype expression of an allele that is related to the chromosomal sex of the individual. This mode of inheritance is in contrast to the inheritance of traits on autosome chromosomes, where both sexes have the same probability of expressing the trait....
. There are over 80 recognised primary immunodeficiency syndromes; they are generally grouped by the part of the immune system that is malfunctioning, such as lymphocyte
Lymphocyte

A lymphocyte is a type of white blood cell in the vertebrate immune system.By their appearance under the light microscope, there are two broad categories of lymphocytes, namely the large granular lymphocytes and the small lymphocytes....
s or granulocyte
Granulocyte

Granulocytes are a category of white blood cells characterised by the presence of Granule s in their cytoplasm. They are also called polymorphonuclear leukocytes because of the varying shapes of the cell nucleus, which is usually lobed into three segments....
s.

The treatment of primary immunodeficiencies depends on the nature of the defect, and may involve antibody infusions, long-term antibiotics and (in certain cases) stem cell transplantation.

Acquired immunodeficiency

Immune deficiency may also be the result of particular external processes or diseases; the resultant state is called "secondary" or "acquired" immunodeficiency. Common causes for secondary immunodeficiency are malnutrition
Malnutrition

Malnutrition is a general term for a medical condition caused by an improper or inadequate diet and nutrition.According to the World Health Organization, hunger and malnutrition are the single gravest threats to the world's public health and malnutrition is by far the biggest contributor to child mortality, present in half of all cases....
, aging and particular medications (e.g. chemotherapy
Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy, in its most general sense, refers to treatment of disease by chemicals that kill cells, specifically those of micro-organisms or cancer....
, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug
Disease-modifying antirheumatic drug

Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs is a category of otherwise unrelated drugs defined by their use in rheumatoid arthritis to slow down disease progression....
s, immunosuppressive drug
Immunosuppressive drug

Immunosuppressive drugs or immunosuppressive agents are medication that inhibit or prevent activity of the immune system. They are used in immunosuppression to:...
s after organ transplant
Organ transplant

Organ transplant is the moving of an organ from one body to another , for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or failing organ with a working one from the donor site....
s, glucocorticoid
Glucocorticoid

Glucocorticoids are a class of steroid hormones which bind to the glucocorticoid receptor , which is present in almost every animal cell.GCs are part of the feedback mechanism in the immune system which turns immune activity down....
s).

Many specific diseases directly or indirectly impair the immune system. This includes many types of cancer
Cancer

Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cell display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis . These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, do not invade or metastasize....
, particularly those of the bone marrow and blood cells (leukemia
Leukemia

Leukemia is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and is characterized by an abnormal proliferation of blood Cell , usually white blood cells ....
, lymphoma
Lymphoma

Lymphoma is a type of cancer that originates in lymphocytes of the immune system. They often originate in lymph nodes, presenting as an enlargement of the node ....
, multiple myeloma
Multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells. These immune system cells are formed in bone marrow, are numerous in lymphatics and produce antibody....
), and certain chronic infections. Immunodeficiency is also the hallmark of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the HIV ....
 (AIDS), caused by the human immunodeficiency virus
HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that can lead to AIDS , a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections....
 (HIV). HIV indirectly attacks the immune system.