Clinical Biochemistry of Domestic Animals (Sixth Edition) - UMK ...

Chapter 6
Clinical Veterinary Immunology
Laurel J. Gershwin
Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology
School of Veterinary Medicine
University of California, Davis
Davis, California
I. INTRODUCTION
II. INNATE IMMUNITY
III. ACQUIRED IMMUNITY
A. Humoral Immunity
B. Cellular Immunity
IV. EVALUATION OF THE IMMUNE RESPONSE
A. Evaluation of Neutrophil Function
B. Evaluation of Complement
C. Evaluation of Humoral Immunity
D. Evaluation of Cellular Immunity
V. METHODS FOR EVALUATION OF THE IMMUNE
RESPONSE TO INFECTIOUS AGENTS
A. Agglutination and Passive Agglutination
B. Hemagglutination and Hemagglutination-
Inhibition
C. Virus Serum Neutralization Assay
D. Agar Gel Double Immunodiffusion
E. Indirect and Direct Immunofluorescence (IFA) Test
F. Flow Cytometry
G. Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)
H. Immunohistochemistry/Immunoperoxidase
Techniques
I. Western Blot Analysis
J. How Do the Sensitivities of Different Immunoassays
Compare
K. Interpretation of Immune Responses to
Pathogens
VI. LABORATORY DIAGNOSIS OF DISEASES WITH AN
IMMUNOLOGICAL PATHOGENESIS
A. Autoimmune Diseases
B. Primary Immune Deficiency Diseases
C. Secondary Immunodeficiency
D. Hypersensitivity Diseases
VII. MODULATION OF THE IMMUNE RESPONSE
VIII. SUMMARY
REFERENCES
I . INTRODUCTION
The field of clinical immunology has evolved from serological
testing for the presence of antibodies to infectious agents
to a multifaceted discipline that utilizes some of the traditional
techniques in addition to many newer more sensitive
assay systems. Yet it is still involved with evaluation of the
immune system of patients and the ability of the immune
system to respond to antigenic stimuli. Assays developed to
target specific parts of the immune system enable the clinician
not only to determine if a patient has normal immune
responsiveness but also to target those parts of the immune
system that are suspect of inadequate function. Serology
has historically been used to determine retrospectively if a
patient were infected with a particular disease agent; antibody
titers continue to have importance in diagnostics.
Current technologies have created expanded opportunities
to diagnose infectious, autoimmune, and allergic
diseases with new tools. Diagnostic quantitative reverse transcriptase
polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) has shifted
the focus from the immunology laboratory for the identification
of infecting pathogens. Yet growing concern that
veterinarians may be overvaccinating their patients has provided
a new incentive for the development of sensitive and
specific immunoassays to measure the immune response
to vaccine antigens. Another increasing trend since the
previous edition of this book is the use of diagnostic flow
cytometry. This technique can evaluate multiple parameters
on cells using multicolor analysis. The current availability
of antibodies to many cytokines makes it now possible to
determine not only cell phenotype but also the intracellular
cytokines being made. Production of monoclonal antibodies
specific to some leukocyte antigens expressed on
leukemic cells has allowed diagnosis of these conditions to
be achieved through flow cytometry. Flow cytometry is currently
being used for detection of autoantibodies to platelets
and erythrocytes. The traditional antinuclear antibody
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