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4. Adaptive Immunity

Humoral vs. Cell Mediated Immunity

Immunity refers to the ability of your immune system to defend against infection and disease. There are two types of immunity that the adaptive immune system provides, and they are dependent on the functions of B and T cells, as described above.Humoral immunity is immunity from serum antibodies produced by plasma cells. More specifically, someone who has never been exposed to a specific disease can gain humoral immunity through administration of antibodies from someone who has been exposed, and survived the same disease. “Humoral” refers to the bodily fluids where these free-floating serum antibodies bind to antigens and assist with elimination.Cell-mediated immunity can be acquired through T cells from someone who is immune to the target disease or infection. “Cell-mediated” refers to the fact that the response is carried out by cytotoxic cells. Much like humoral immunity, someone who has not been exposed to a specific disease can gain cell-mediated immunity through the administration of T\text{}_{H}H​start text, end text, start subscript, H, end subscript and T\text{}_{C}C​start text, end text, start subscript, C, end subscript cells from someone that has been exposed, and survived the same disease. The T\text{}_{H}H​start text, end text, start subscript, H, end subscript cells act to activate other immune cells, while the T\text{}_{C}C​start text, end text, start subscript, C, end subscript cells assist with the elimination of pathogens and infected host cells.

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