The chain of immunology

The chain of immunology

177 it offers interested readers a rare combination of theoretical and practical information about immunogenetic markers and their uses in medicine. ...

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177

it offers interested readers a rare combination of theoretical and practical information about immunogenetic markers and their uses in medicine. F. Borek

JIM03371

The Chain of Immunology, by G. Feinberg and M.A. Jackson, Blackwell, Oxford, 1983 (viii + 48 pp., illus., soft cover) £ 4.95 This compendium of immunology is based on material that served its senior author, Visiting Professor at the Immunology Department of St. Thomas Hospital Medical School in London, as a teaching device and his students as a learning aid over the past 10 years. Co-authored by a student, it is intended to provide 'an annotated route map cum lexicon and phrase book for the would-be explorer of the immunological jungle'. The definitions of terms from immunology to antiserum are given in the Introduction which expands and explains the book's title by portraying a chain of events triggered off by antigen and leading to the immune response and immune reaction. The text consists of 5 chapters representing links in the chain: (1) 'The Cell's the Thing' (structure and functions of blood cells, immunoglobulins, the complement system, lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues); (2) 'Enter the Antigen' (routes of entry, adjuvants, antigen properties, epitopes, antigen processing and presentation); (3) 'The Covert Immune Response' (conditions for IR induction, Ir genes, immunocompetence, lymphocyte stimulation); (4) 'The Overt Immune Response and Immune Reaction' (primary and secondary responses, theories of antibody formation, characteristics of Ig classes, cellular IR, methods for detecting reactions of antigens with antibodies and with sensitized T cells); and (5) 'Mishaps of Immune Response and Immune Reaction' (hypersensitivity, autoimmunity, graft rejection reactions, immunodeficiency, hypergammaglobulinaemia). The text is illustrated with schematic diagrams, preceded by a glossary of acronyms and abbreviations, and followed by bibliography for extended reading, subject index, and, last but not least, a folder inside the back cover with a flow sheet outlining the chain of immunology. Ingeniously conceived and skillfully designed, this guidebook can perform a useful function in immunological education by preparing and introducing the student to regular textbooks and specialized treatises in the field. F. Borek

0022-1759/85/$03.30 © 1985 ElsevierSciencePublishersB.V. (BiomedicalDivision)