IMMUNITY AND IMMUNOSUPPRESSANTS

Immunology is the science that studies the reactions induced within a living organism by the introduction of foreign substances. Non-specific reactions are characteristic of natural (or innate) immunity, while specific reactions are characteristic of adaptive immunity.The immune system is a big puzzle! There are many pieces, and more are being discovered every day. The aim is to understand how they fit together. The immune system is the result of a long evolutionary process that has led to a construction that is both simple and sophisticated, the aim of which is to provide a living organism with an effective defence system that is essential for its survival. The enormous progress made in fundamental immunology in recent years has only been possible thanks to the optimisation of new technologies. Used in clinical laboratories, these new approaches are proving to be highly informative and can be transferred to laboratories carrying out routine analyses. Organ transplantation is a very good example of the need to strengthen laboratory tests for measuring immunity.