Host Defenses to Intracellular Pathogens: Proceedings of a conference held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 10-12, 1981 [Paperback]

The subject matter of this volume was the basis for a confer? ence held in Philadelphia in June, 1981, and is an important one in the contemporary area of how the host interacts with micro? organisms. In conception, it grew out of a graduate course entitled, The Infectious Process, which has been taught in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Temple University School of Medicine during the past twelve years. This course has explored the broad areas of mechanisms of microbial pathogenesis and host resistance by in-depth consideration of selected models of experimental infection and immunity, as well as the clinical literature. It is noteworthy that there is no adequate text for this material, as the subject matter naturally crosses a wide spectrum of traditional disciplinary lines, encompassing topics as diverse as the mechanisms of action of bacterial toxins, the role of complement and antibody in phagocytosis, and the importance of cross-reacting bacterial polysaccharide antigens in vaccine development. A major portion of the course has always considered cellular immunity as it applies to host defenses to intracellular pathogens. It is in this area that the necessity for amalgamation of information from different disciplines is most evident, for one must be intimately concerned with the interactions between the microbe and the phagocyte, both before and after specific immune recognition.and Historical Perspective.- I. Microbicidal Mechanisms of Leukocytes in Host Defenses.- Oxygen Independent Microbicidal Mechanisms of Human Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes.- Oxidative Metabolism of Leukocytes and Its Relationship to Bactericidal Activity.- Some Paradoxes of Macrophage Function.- Genetic Disorders of Granulocyte Function: What They Tell Us About Normal Mechanisms.- II. The Immune System and Phagocytic Cell Function.- Modulation of Effector Lymphokines.- Stimulation of Host Resistance to Metastatic Tumors by Macrophage Activating Agents Encapsulated in LlÃ#