Immune Health and Autoimmune Illness

The immune system is a complex network of cells and tissues with a coordinated signaling mechanisms to address “invaders” and monitor any tissue damage inside the body that could cause harm. The brain and the gut are constantly communicating and responding to potential dangers to the body. The immune system is divided into two sub-systems, innate and adaptive immune system, and both are vital to protect your body. The innate system is your “in born” immune defense and responds in a non specific manner.  This system involves barriers such as the skin, mucous membrane, gastric enzymes, stomach acid, and inflammatory processes. The adaptive immune system recognizes invading organisms, sends a specific signal, and mounts a specific response (natural T killer cells and B cells).  Overtime, these cells develop memory and help protect you and can respond more quickly.  

Antigens (virus, bacteria, fungus, parasite) are foreign substances and your body has antigen presenting cells to present any foreign substance to the adaptive immune system so it can determine how to respond.  Many types of white blood cells, chemicals, and proteins work together as part of this process to recognize an invader and for your body to respond.  Remember, the innate system is what you are born with, has a genetic link, and is mostly an inflammatory response. Multiple genes are part of the process of recognizing what is a foreign invader and what is not. One common gene variant is in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC).  When antigens are reviewed as “good or bad”, genes of the MHC provide coding on the cells that are important to whether the T killer cells are activated.  Genetic variants of the MHC gene can affect how the immune system responds.

Imbalanced Immune Function

Nutritional status and immune response have strong connections.  Depending on some genetic variants, some nutritional deficiencies can have a greater impact on the immune system. Nutrients that support the antioxidants can impact how toxins can invade your body. In addition to poor nutrition, the immune system is negatively affected by poor sleep, chronic stress, and strenuous exercise.  The liver status is important in removing toxins and a sluggish liver can impact the immune function.  Chronic stress, and the elevated cortisol, can affect inflammation markers.  Genetic variants that support the inflammatory markers can affect how the markers respond, either too much inflammation or a poor response.

Autoimmune

The immune system is designed to recognize foreign invaders without attacking the host tissue, or the body is “immune” to itself.  Several steps in the surveillance system can mistakenly target the body, or a part of the body, and this can lead to many conditions called “autoimmune”.  Most autoimmune conditions are related to a dysfunctional immune system that influences genetic variants that are “expressed”.  Expression means a gene is influencing how the body is functioning. Genes that affect the inflammatory markers can cause too much inflammation, such as in psoriasis.