How a Battle is Fought
To better understand the immune system, let us look at how it fights a cold virus.
A macrophage grabs and engulfs an invading cold virus using its numerous tentacles. This cleansing role makes the macrophage almost like the garbage man of the body.
The macrophage signals other immune cells to the battlefield by displaying pieces of the digested virus (also known as “antigen”) on its surface.
A helper T cell responds to this call for help, and binds to the macrophage.
Interleukin, tumor necrosis factor and interferon are immune chemicals produced during the helper T cell-macrophage union.
Other immune cells now multiply thanks to the presence of these immune chemicals. During the multiplication of B cells, antibodies are produced.
Killer T cells drill holes into virus-infected cells. The virus is now more easily overwhelmed.
Antibodies (immunoglobulins) lock onto the viruses and signal complements to destroy the viruses and macrophages to engulf them.
The infection is brought under control. Suppressor T cells turn off activated immune cells. Some B and T cells remain as memory cells, remembering the characteristics of the virus. This information is stores so that the immune system can more quickly respond to and defeat the same virus strain should it attack again. Such a memory mechanism is also employed when vaccines are injected into the body.
Retrieved from Book Title: Nutrition·Immunity·Longevity By Dr. Jau-Fei Chen