Unraveling the Immune System

Introduction
Your immune system is like a superhero shield, protecting you from bad germs and infections. It has two main parts: innate immunity and humoral immunity. In this blog, we’ll break down these two superhero teams and see how ABM (Agaricus blazei Murrill) mushrooms can help them.

Innate Immunity
Innate immunity is the fast, general protection your body has against germs. It’s the first line of defense and includes:
1. Body Guards: (Physical barriers) Your skin and mucus are like security guards, keeping germs out.
2. Germ Eaters: (Phagocytes) Special white blood cells gobble up germs, just like Pac-Man eating dots.
3. Red Flag Alert: (Inflammatory Response) When there’s trouble, your body sets off an alarm called inflammation. This causes redness, swelling, and heat.
4. Germ Destroyers: (Complement System) There are proteins in your blood that punch holes in germs, making them pop like balloons.

Humoral Immunity
Humoral immunity is like your immune system’s secret agents. These agents are called antibodies. Here’s how they work:
1. Germ ID: (Antigen Recognition) When your body spots a germ, it looks for tiny markers on its surface called antigens.
2. Antibody Makers: (B Cell Activation) Your B cells make special proteins called antibodies to match these antigens.
3. Germ Takedown: (antibody Attack) Antibodies stick to the germ and make it harmless. They also call in backup to clear the infection.

ABM Mushrooms’ Role
Now, let’s see how ABM mushrooms help your immune system.
ABM mushrooms have some powerful ingredients that can give your immune system a boost. These ingredients, like beta-glucans, can help both your superhero teams:
1. Innate Immunity: ABM mushrooms make the germ-eating cells stronger. It’s like giving them superpowers to recognize and eat germs.
2. Humoral Immunity: ABM mushrooms can also help your B cells make more antibodies. This means more secret agents to fight germs.

What Recent Research Found
In a recent study called “Extract of medicinal mushroom Agaricus blazei Murill enhances the non-specific and adaptive immune activities in BALB/c mice” (Ni et al., 2013), scientists tested ABM mushrooms on mice. Here’s what they discovered:

Non-Specific Immune Response:

• • Mice that ate ABM mushrooms had more antibodies (IgG) in their blood, which is good for fighting germs.
  • The Pac-Man-like cells in their bodies (peritoneal macrophages) became better at eating germs.
  • Their Natural killer cells, the infection-fighting heroes, got more active.

Adaptive Immune Response:

• • ABM mushrooms boosted a type of protein (IL-2) in the mice’s immune cells, making them better at fighting germs.
  • Some of the mice got more of another important protein called interferon-γ.
  • Levels of a protein called interleukin-4 (IL-4) went down or stayed the same. This means the immune system shifted towards a “fight the germs” mode.

These findings show that ABM mushrooms can make both superhero teams, innate and adaptive immunity, stronger.

Conclusion
Understanding your immune system is like knowing your superheroes. Innate immunity is your quick defense, and humoral immunity is like your secret agents. ABM mushrooms, with their super ingredients, can give a power-up to both teams. Recent research also proves that these mushrooms make your immune system even stronger. So, consider adding ABM mushrooms extracts to your wellness routine to make your immune system a real superhero!

Bibliography

1. 1. aneway, C. A., Travers, P., Walport, M., & Shlomchik, M. (2001). Immunobiology: The Immune System in Health and Disease. Garland Science.
   2. Rajewska, J., Balasinska, B., Stawny, M., Fiszer, A., & Siwulski, M. (2019). Agaricus blazei Water Extract (ABW) Changes Immunoglobulin Profiles in Human Whole Blood in vitro. Molecules, 24(12), 2249.
   3. Vetvicka, V., & Vetvickova, J. (2019). Anti-Infectious and Anti-Tumor Activities of β-Glucans. Anti-Infective Agents, 17(3), 160-171.
   4. Ni, W. Y., Wu, M. F., Liao, N. C., Yeh, M. Y., Lu, H. F., Hsueh, S. C., … & Chung, J. G. (2013). Extract of medicinal mushroom Agaricus blazei Murill enhances the non-specific and adaptive immune activities in BALB/c mice. In Vivo, 27(6), 779-786. PMID: 24292582.