Musa Mustaffa
Department of Immunology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Health Campus, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan.
Malays J Med Sci. 2013 May;20(3):61-7.
Immunology has now developed into an independent discipline in medicine which covers not only germ infection which is related to immunity solely but also covers a lot of non-infectious diseases such as autoimmune disease, allergies, and others. Therefore, "The Immune Mechanism: "A Double-Edged Sword" means that the immune mechanism (consisted of antibody mediated mechanism and T cell mediated mechanism), just like one edge playing the role of giving benefit (immunity) as it destroys the agent of infection, and another one can be detrimental as it will cause tissue/cell damages and then give rise to immune diseases (immunopathology). Now, the prevalence of these immune diseases is on the rise and has become a new challenge to our country towards developed country in 2020. Therefore, we have to make ample preparation (laboratory facilities/services, main power, and research) from now on in order to face the problems and challenges.
免疫学现已发展成为医学中的一门独立学科，它不仅涵盖仅与免疫相关的病菌感染，还涵盖许多非感染性疾病，如自身免疫性疾病、过敏症等。因此，“免疫机制：一把双刃剑”意味着免疫机制（由抗体介导机制和T细胞介导机制组成），就像一把剑的一边在破坏感染因子时发挥有益作用（免疫），而另一边可能有害，因为它会导致组织/细胞损伤，进而引发免疫疾病（免疫病理学）。如今，这些免疫疾病的患病率正在上升，并在202年成为我国迈向发达国家的一个新挑战。因此，我们必须从现在开始做好充分准备（实验室设施/服务、主要力量和研究），以应对这些问题和挑战。
