Category:Primary Immunodeficiency

• Primary immunodeficiencies may affect either the innate immune system or the adaptive immune system
• They are categorised by either the type or the developmental stage of the cells involved
• Lymphoid cell disorders affect T cells or B cells (or both)
• Myeloid cell disorders affect phagocytic function
• The severity of the immunodeficiency depends on at which stage in development the problem occurs
  • E.g. Defects early on in development will affect the entire immune system
• T cell deficiencies can affect both the cell-mediated and humoral response as T cells play a central role in the immune system

Primary Innate Immunity Deficiencies Primary Adaptive Immunity Deficiencies

Laboratory Examples of Severe Combined Deficiency

Athymic Nude Mouse - Armin Kübelbeck 2008

• Severe Combined Immune Deficiency(SCID)
  • No functional B cells or T cells

• Athymic nude mice (no thymus)
  • No functional T cells
  • Cell-mediated immunodeficiency

• Knock-out mice
  • E.g. Gene coding for CD4, CD8, IL-10 removed