Immunology | Pathology Student

Are allergies part of the innate immune system?

Q. I have a question about this exam question:

Which of the following is an example of innate immunity? (more…)

Why don’t you get sensitized with a PPD?

Q. I had a question about PPD (Mantoux test). I read your hypersensitivity posts explaining the different types and examples of hypersensitivity. (more…)

Henoch-Schonlein purpura: the disease you never really learned about

Sometimes in pathology, you hear the name of a disease over and over, but somehow you never really learn about it. (more…)

Forward blood typing

Q. I have a question about blood typing. I understand that in forward typing, we use anti-A and anti-B antibodies. (more…)

Immunology quiz answers

First, a short question on IgA.

Q. I heard in lecture that IgA is bactericidal. How does that work, if IgA doesn’t bind to complement and does not have an available Fc receptor? (more…)

Immunology quiz

Here’s a little immunology quiz to test your knowledge. Answers are here. (more…)

Antibody isotypes, idiotypes, and allotypes

Q. We’re doing immunology right now and I don’t get what the difference is between isotypes and idiotypes. Are they the same thing? (more…)

Ode to the granuloma

The first thing I think of when I hear “granuloma” is the Knack song My Sharona. My son actually came up with that – oh the things children see when their mom is a pathologist in training!

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