Techniques in Immunopathology

Immunopathology is defined as inappropriate immune responses to an infection, which can cause injury to the host in different ways. If the immune responses are weak, then it is called as immunodeficiency disorder. The disease in the host can be caused by an overactive immune responses to an insult, which is known as hypersensitivity reaction. The inability of the immune responses to distinguish self from invader is known as autoimmunity. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a sensitive method to quantify the presence of antigen or antibodies. The immunohistochemistry is a technique for detecting antigen of interest within the tissues using antibodies. Enzymes conjugated primary antibody or secondary antibody that recognize the primary antibody and bind the target molecule reveal the location of targets in the tissue or cell samples for imaging. Immunoblotting is an in vitro technique for detecting specific proteins using antibodies. Immunoprecipitation is a method for isolating a target molecule from a solution or cell lysate using an antibody that recognizes it. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISPOT) assay is a sensitive method to count cells of a specific type by capturing molecules that they secrete on an immunosorbent surface and detecting them with the ELISA method. It is commonly used to count the immune cells based on the secretion of cytokines. The immune cell isolation refers to the enrichment of immune cell subsets using antibody-mediated recognition of specific cell surface antigens, followed by sorting or separation by flow cytometry, density centrifugation or magnetic isolation. Other immunopathological techniques required for the investigation and management of autoimmune diseases include direct and indirect immunofluorescence, agglutination, Western blotting, and immunoelectron microscopy.