Description

Edited by: A.F. Antonopoulos - N.A. Malisiovas

Immunology at a Glance is a concise and comprehensive introductory aid for medical students. This book does not serve as a manual of immunology from which specialized knowledge will be drawn. Instead, it aims at all those who work on immunological issues and spend a lot of time trying to keep up to date in a scientific field that sometimes seems to change rapidly and is confusing. Additionally, anyone with a background in Medicine or Biology who is already familiar with the basics but is compelled to understand the immunological advances often needs nothing more than a few quick sketches to grasp them.

Thus, the book is filled with sketches that, over time, appear to be even more useful. Following the now well-known and user-friendly style, each thematic unit is presented in a two-page format with essential information accompanied by clear, informative diagrams highlighting the key points.

Immunology at a Glance continues to address all students of biomedical and medical sciences who wish for a direct but universal way of understanding immunology.

Contents

Foreword
Foreword of the Greek edition
Acknowledgments
Note on the seventh edition
Further readings

1. The subject of immunology
2. Innate and acquired immune mechanisms
3. The evolution of immune mechanisms
4. Cells involved in immunity: the hematopoietic system
5. The complement system
6. Acute inflammation
7. Phagocytes: the reticuloendothelial system
8. Phagocytosis
9. Acquired immunity (i) The cellular basis
10. Lymphocytes
11. Central lymphoid organs and lymphopoiesis
12. Peripheral lymphoid organs and lymphocyte circulation (ii) The molecular basis
13. Evolution of recognition molecules - the immunoglobulin superfamily
14. The major histocompatibility complex
15. The T cell antigen receptor (TCR)
16. Differentiation and antibody production
17. Structure and function of antibodies (iii) The adaptive immune response
18. Antigen recognition and processing
19. The antibody response
20. Antigen-antibody interaction and immune complexes
21. Cell-mediated immune responses (iv) Regulation
22. Tolerance
23. Idiotypes, anti-idiotypes, and networks
24. The cytokine network
25. Immunity, hormones, and the brain
26. Immunity against microbes: an overview
27. Immunity against viruses
28. Immunity against bacteria
29. Immunity against fungi
30. Immunity against protozoa
31. Immunity against helminths
32. Immunity against tumors (v) Undesirable effects of immunity
33. Harmful immunity: an overview
34. Allergy and anaphylaxis
35. Immune complexes, complement, and disease
36. Chronic and cell-mediated inflammation
37. Autoimmunity
38. Transplant rejection (vi) Altered immunity
39. Immunosuppression
40. Immunodeficiency
41. HIV and AIDS
42. Immunostimulation and vaccination

In conclusion, the book includes the appendices:
43. Comparative sizes
44. Milestones in the history of immunology
45. Some unresolved issues
46. The CD classification
47. Index