Your Body’s First Responders – The Innate Immune System
In these perilous times we honor our First Responders including health care providers, EMTs, law enforcement and firemen. But equally important are our internal First Responders – the cells of the Innate Immune System in our bodies from birth.
Your innate immune response is your first line of defense against pathogens as health invaders seeking to harm us. These innate immune cells are the macrophages, NK, neutrophils and interferon producing cells that Immediately go into action when confronting any “non-self” entering the body.
When overwhelmed in need of backup for an adequate immune response, the innate immune first responders also alert the adaptive or acquired immune system of a potential health threat. The adaptive immune system then, primarily through the T-cells and B cells, produces antibodies, including those associated with vaccines. The adaptive immune system generally takes 5 to 7 days to respond to a health threat (how long do you usually have a cold or flu?).
There is much discussion and even confusion in what we need to do as individuals to protect and defend ourselves in the pandemic of recent times. While debate on what vaccine or how long antibodies work on what strains continues, there is no debate that we need to keep our immune systems strong and able to defend us against our body war enemies.
No dispute arises related to the need to normalize, mobilize, regenerate when possible and potentiate our immune cells. Our First Responder innate immune cells are at the top of the list in need. Most of our advice involves external action that is definitely needed – proper diet, washing hands and good hygiene, wearing masks when appropriate, adequate rest and exercise and reduced stress.
When we need more than these standard responses, we supplement with the intent to better enable our body’s to help ourselves. Numerous researchers have determined white blood cells with beta 1,3/1,6 glucan and its cell surface receptors including dectin-1 are the backbone of the body’s innate immune system representing the first line of defense against the preponderance of infections.
In research published in January 2021, Researchers FM Castro, PC Calder and HM Roche, stated, “The immune response is composed of innate and adaptive components. The initial responder to pathogens is the innate component, comprised mainly of phagocytic cells able to engulf and kill pathogens. After phagocytosing and digesting pathogens and then processing pathogen derived antigens, innate immune cells …present the processed antigen to T helper cells and B lymphocytes, leading to the development of the more specific adaptive immune response.” [Including production of antibodies targeted at specific pathogens such as a unique virus.}
In a U.S. Patent Application by co-inventors FM Jordan, KW Hunter Jr and RA Gault, the researchers disclosed, “…glucan-containing compositions potentiate immune responses by causing the activation of macrophages. When B-glucan containing compositions interact with the cell surface glucan receptor, the macrophage is activated and becomes capable of direct and indirect killing of the invading pathogens …macrophage activation is certainly important for innate immunity through the enhanced destruction of pathogenic microorganisms, … . There is evidence that beta glucan-containing compositions can potentiate both innate and adaptive immunity.”
From birth we are blessed with 1/5 of our body’s being immune cells to protect and defend us and then to help repair us when damaged. Frankly speaking, let us appreciate and support all our First Responders, both external and internal in this on-going body war for good health.
Note: Frank M Jordan is Research Director of Nutritional Scientific Corporation and article author
