Antibodies that the immune system mistakenly directs against the body's own healthy tissues, a key laboratory finding in autoimmune disorders, are called autoantibodies.
Missing Word
autoantibodies
Autoantibodies are antibodies aimed at the body's own components. They can form immune complexes that deposit in tissues and trigger inflammation, and finding them helps confirm an autoimmune disorder.
Category: Autoimmunity
Question 2
Innate immune proteins that virus-infected cells release to help neighboring cells resist infection, named for the way they hinder viral replication, are interferons.
Missing Word
interferons
Interferons are part of natural immunity and defend against viruses by helping nearby cells resist viral replication. Their name comes from their ability to interfere with viruses.
Category: Immune Cells and Organs
Question 3
The lymphoid organ whose red pulp removes old or damaged red blood cells and recycles their iron, while its white pulp holds lymphocytes, is the spleen.
Missing Word
spleen
The spleen is a lymphoid organ with two regions: red pulp that clears worn-out red blood cells and recycles iron, and white pulp concentrated with lymphocytes that respond to blood-borne antigens.
Category: Immune Cells and Organs
Question 4
The opposite of immunocompromised, a person whose immune system recognizes threats and responds to them efficiently is described as immunocompetent.
Missing Word
immunocompetent
An immunocompetent person has a properly functioning immune system. An immunocompromised person lacks one and is at greater risk for infections, hypersensitivities, autoimmune disorders and immunodeficiencies.
Category: Immune Assessment
Question 5
Adult stem cells, which can develop only into the cell types of the tissue they came from, are described as multipotent.
Missing Word
multipotent
Multipotent stem cells, such as adult or nonembryonic stem cells, are limited to forming the cell types of their tissue of origin, unlike pluripotent embryonic stem cells.
Category: Advances in Immunology
Question 6
The field that studies how psychological stress, the nervous system and the immune system influence one another is called psychoneuroimmunology.
Missing Word
psychoneuroimmunology
Psychoneuroimmunology explains why prolonged stress, through hormones such as cortisol, can suppress immunity. It is why the nurse assesses stress and coping as part of an immune history.
Category: Immune Assessment
Question 7
An older adult asks why she now catches infections more easily than when she was younger, and the nurse explains immunosenescence, the gradual weakening of the immune system that comes with natural aging.
Missing Word
immunosenescence
Immunosenescence is the gradual deterioration of the immune system with aging. It raises older adults' risk of infection and of autoimmune and neurological disease, and reduced recognition of malignant cells may contribute to cancer, so the nurse keeps these risks in mind when assessing and teaching older adults.
Category: Immune Assessment
Question 8
A patient with Graves disease has a visible swelling at the front of the neck because antibodies the immune system makes against the patient's own thyroid stimulate the gland to grow; this enlarged thyroid is called a goiter.
Missing Word
goiter
A goiter is an enlarged thyroid gland. In Graves disease, antibodies directed against the patient's own thyroid drive it to grow and to make and release too much hormone, so the gland can swell visibly in the neck.
Category: Autoimmunity
Question 9
A patient with lupus is often referred to a rheumatologist, a physician who specializes in autoimmune diseases of the joints, muscles and connective tissue.
Missing Word
rheumatologist
A rheumatologist diagnoses and manages autoimmune and inflammatory diseases of the joints, muscles and connective tissue, and is a common member of the interdisciplinary team for autoimmune disorders.
Category: Autoimmunity
Question 10
When palpating the lymph nodes in the groin, the nurse is assessing the inguinal nodes.
Missing Word
inguinal
The inguinal lymph nodes lie in the groin. The nurse palpates them along with the cervical, supraclavicular and axillary nodes, noting any swelling or tenderness.
Category: Immune Assessment
Question 11
Skipping doses of immunosuppressive medication after an organ transplant can allow the immune system to attack the new organ, a complication called rejection.
Missing Word
rejection
Rejection occurs when the immune system recognizes a transplanted organ as foreign and attacks it. Taking immunosuppressants exactly as prescribed, even when side effects are unpleasant, helps prevent it.
Category: Immunosuppressive Therapy
Question 12
Excess collagen deposits make the skin of a patient's fingers and face tight, hard and thick, and can stiffen internal organs, in the autoimmune disorder scleroderma.
Missing Word
scleroderma
Scleroderma is an autoimmune disorder in which an imbalanced immune response activates fibroblasts to lay down too much collagen. The skin hardens and thickens, and internal organs such as the lungs, heart, kidneys and digestive tract can also be affected.
Category: Autoimmunity
Question 13
Cytokines whose name reflects that they carry messages between white blood cells, directing immune activity and adjusting inflammation, are interleukins.
Missing Word
interleukins
Interleukins are cytokines that pass signals between leukocytes. They help direct immune cell activity and modulate inflammation as part of the body's defenses.
Category: Immune Cells and Organs
Question 14
Neutrophils, eosinophils and basophils, white blood cells named for the visible grains in their cytoplasm, are called granulocytes.
Missing Word
granulocytes
Granulocytes carry granules in their cytoplasm: neutrophils respond first to infection, eosinophils fight parasites and rise in allergic reactions, and basophils release histamine in allergic reactions. Lymphocytes and monocytes lack these visible granules.
Category: Immune Cells and Organs
Question 15
Cancer treatment that boosts the patient's own immune system so it can recognize and destroy tumor cells is called immunotherapy.
Missing Word
immunotherapy
Immunotherapy helps the immune system find cancer cells that have evaded it. Examples include cancer vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, immune checkpoint inhibitors and cytokines.
Category: Advances in Immunology