Davenport Miles P, Belz Gabrielle T, Ribeiro Ruy M
Complex Systems in Biology Group, Centre for Vascular Research, University of New South Wales, Kensington NSW 2052, Australia.
Trends Immunol. 2009 Feb;30(2):61-6. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2008.11.001. Epub 2009 Jan 8.
Infection is often referred to as a race between pathogen and immune response. This metaphor suggests that slower growing pathogens should be more easily controlled. However, a growing body of evidence shows that many chronic infections are caused by failure to control slow growing pathogens. The slow growth of pathogens seems to directly affect the kinetics of the immune response. Compared with the response to fast growing pathogens, the T-cell response to slow pathogens is delayed in its initiation, lymphocyte expansion is slow and the response often fails to clear the pathogen, leading to chronic infection. Understanding the 'rules of the race' for slow growing pathogens has important implications for vaccine design and immune control of many chronic infections.
感染通常被视为病原体与免疫反应之间的一场竞赛。这个比喻表明生长较慢的病原体应该更容易被控制。然而，越来越多的证据表明，许多慢性感染是由于未能控制生长缓慢的病原体所致。病原体的缓慢生长似乎直接影响免疫反应的动力学。与对快速生长病原体的反应相比，对缓慢生长病原体的T细胞反应在启动时延迟，淋巴细胞扩增缓慢，并且反应常常无法清除病原体，从而导致慢性感染。了解生长缓慢病原体的“竞赛规则”对疫苗设计和许多慢性感染的免疫控制具有重要意义。
