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Humoral immunity, also called the antibody-mediated beta cellularis immune system, is the aspect of immunity that is mediated by macromolecules (as opposed to cell-mediated immunity) found in extracellular fluids such as secreted antibodies, complement proteins and certain antimicrobial peptides. Humoral immunity is so named because it involves substances found in the humours, or body fluids. The study of the molecular and cellular components that form the immune system, including their function and interaction, is the central science of immunology. The immune system is divided into a more primitive innate immune system, and acquired or adaptive immune system of vertebrates, each of which contains humoral and cellular components. Humoral immunity refers to antibody production and the accessory processes that accompany it, including: Th2 activation and cytokine production, germinal center formation and isotype switching, affinity maturation and memory cell generation. It also refers to the effector functions of antibodies, which include pathogen and toxin neutralization, classical complement activation, and opsonin promotion of phagocytosis and pathogen elimination. ==History== The concept of humoral immunity developed based on analysis of antibacterial activity of the serum components. Hans Buchner is credited with the development of the humoral theory.〔Metchnikoff, Elie (1905) (Immunity in infectious disease ) (Full Text Version) Cambridge University Press〕 In 1890 he described alexins, or “protective substances”, which exist in the blood serum and other bodily fluid and are capable of killing microorganisms. Alexins, later redefined "complement" by Paul Ehrlich, were shown to be the soluble components of the innate response that lead to a combination of cellular and humoral immunity, and bridged the features of innate and acquired immunity.〔 Following the 1888 discovery of the bacteria that cause diphtheria and tetanus, Emil von Behring and Kitasato Shibasaburō showed that disease need not be caused by microorganisms themselves. They discovered that cell-free filtrates were sufficient to cause disease. In 1890, filtrates of diphtheria, later named diphtheria toxins, were used to vaccinate animals in an attempt to demonstrate that immunized serum contained an antitoxin that could neutralize the activity of the toxin and could transfer immunity to non-immune animals.〔Gherardi E. (The experimental foundations of Immunology ) Immunology Course Medical School, University of Pavia.〕 In 1897, Paul Ehrlich showed that antibodies form against the plant toxins ricin and abrin, and proposed that these antibodies are responsible for immunity.〔 Ehrlich, with his friend Emil von Behring, went on to develop the diphtheria antitoxin, which became the first major success of modern immunotherapy.〔 The presence and specificity of compatibility antibodies became the major tool for standardizing the state of immunity and identifying the presence of previous infections.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Humoral immunity」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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