Nokea
A patient is undergoing testing to determine the overall function of her immune system. What test can be performed to evaluate the functioning of the patients cellular immune system?
- A. Immunoglobulin testing
- B. Delayed hypersensitivity skin test
- C. Specific antibody response
- D. Total serum globulin assessment
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Cellular (cell-mediated) immunity tests include the delayed hypersensitivity skin test, since this immune response is specifically dependent on the cellular immune response. Each of the other listed tests assesses functioning of the humoral immune system.
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An infection control nurse is presenting an inservice reviewing the immune response. The nurse describes the clumping effect that occurs when an antibody acts like a cross-link between two antigens. What process is the nurse explaining?
- A. Agglutination
- B. Cellular immune response
- C. Humoral response
- D. Phagocytic immune response
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Agglutination refers to the clumping effect occurring when an antibody acts as a cross-link between two antigens. This takes place within the context of the humoral immune response, but is not synonymous with it. Cellular immune response, the immune systems third line of defense, involves the attack of pathogens by T-cells. The phagocytic immune response, or immune response, is the systems first line of defense, involving white blood cells that have the ability to ingest foreign particles.
A patient is vigilant in her efforts to take good care of herself but is frustrated by her recent history of upper respiratory infections and influenza. What aspect of the patients lifestyle may have a negative effect on immune response?
- A. The patient works out at the gym twice daily.
- B. The patient does not eat red meats.
- C. The patient takes over-the-counter dietary supplements.
- D. The patient sleeps approximately 6 hours each night.
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Rigorous exercise or competitive exercise usually considered a positive lifestyle factor can be a physiologic stressor and cause negative effects on immune response. The patients habits around diet and sleep do not present obvious threats to immune function.
A patient is responding to a microbial invasion and the patients differentiated lymphocytes have begun to function in either a humoral or a cellular capacity. During what stage of the immune response does this occur?
- A. The recognition stage
- B. The effector stage
- C. The response stage
- D. The proliferation stage
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: In the response stage, the differentiated lymphocytes function in either a humoral or a cellular capacity. In the effector stage, either the antibody of the humoral response or the cytotoxic (killer) T cell of the cellular response reaches and connects with the antigen on the surface of the foreign invader. In the recognition stage, the recognition of antigens as foreign, or non-self, by the immune system is the initiating event in any immune response. During the proliferation stage the circulating lymphocytes containing the antigenic message return to the nearest lymph node.
A patient was recently exposed to infectious microorganisms and many T lymphocytes are now differentiating into killer T cells. This process characterizes what stage of the immune response?
- A. Effector
- B. Proliferation
- C. Response
- D. Recognition
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: In the proliferation stage, T lymphocytes differentiate into cytotoxic (or killer) T cells, whereas B lymphocytes produce and release antibodies. This does not occur in the response, recognition, or effector stages.
A nurse is explaining how the humoral and cellular immune responses should be seen as interacting parts of the broader immune system rather than as independent and unrelated processes. What aspect of immune function best demonstrates this?
- A. The movement of B cells in and out of lymph nodes
- B. The interactions that occur between T cells and B cells
- C. The differentiation between different types of T cells
- D. The universal role of the complement system
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: T cells interact closely with B cells, indicating that humoral and cellular immune responses are not separate, unrelated processes, but rather branches of the immune response that interact. Movement of B cells does not clearly show the presence of a unified immune system. The differentiation between types of T cells and the role of the complement system do not directly suggest a single immune system.