Question

IMMUNOLOGY QUESTION

Organ transplant recipients take medications to suppress their immune system for a lifetime. What specific type(s) of immune response are they suppressing? What types of infections are they most susceptible to? Why?

Answer 1

Transplantation is the act of transferring cells, tissues, organs from one site or one person to another. Our body's immune system protects us from harmful substances like germs, poisons, and sometimes, cancer cells. These harmful substances have proteins called antigens, which coates their surfaces. As soon as these antigens enter the body, the immune system recognizes that they are not from that person's body and consider them as "foreign," and attacks them.

When a person receives an organ from someone else during transplant surgery, that person's immune system may recognize that it is foreign. This is because the person's immune system detects that the antigens on the cells of the organ are different. Mismatched organs can trigger a blood transfusion reaction or transplant rejection.

To help prevent this reaction doctors match both the organ donor and the person who is receiving the organ. The more similar the antigens are between the donor and recipient, the less likely that the organ will be rejected.