Immunoglobulin G (IgG) - Also known as gamma globulin, it is present in the greatest amounts and is most concentrated in the plasma. It is a part of most humoral immune reactions.
Immunoglobulin M (IgM) - This is the largest immunoglobulin molecule. In humoral defense reactions, it is the first one to be produced. IgA and IgG come later but are effective over a longer period of time.
Immunoglobulin D (IgD) - Present only in low concentrations in the serum, it is mostly to be found on the cell membranes of the circulating B lymphocytes.
Immunoglobulin E (IgE) - It, too, is present in relatively low concentration in the serum; its main involvement is with allergic reactions.
Immunity weakens with time, but it can be reinvigorated by renewed contact with an antigen.
Lymphostasis can - for whatever reasons - restrict the transport of immunoglobulins, which has a deleterious effect on the defensive system. Immunoglobulins are stored in various kinds of cell systems (plasma cells, lymphocytes, macrophages, thymus, spleen) and in the connective tissue.
The humoral defense system begins to develop in the third month in the Peyer's patches and similar structures in the intestinal tract. The antibodies react with antigens and form complexes which are in turn eliminated by cellular elements. At the same time, all defense mechanisms activate proteolytic enzyme systems and release histamine, which can be found in all allergic and pain reactions as they develop. Nonspecific humoral immunity is effected by interferons and pyrogens. [3, 4, 5]
1.1.3.2 Cellular Immunity
Numerous human cells are capable of phagocytosis. These cells can ingest foreign bodies and disease germs and break them down enzy-matically.
Besides these nonspecific defense cells, there are others that enable the body to mount a specific defense as well. They are called lymphocytes and are produced in the bone marrow. They are especially concentrated in the lymph nodes, spleen and Peyer's patches of the small intestine. During their maturation, they are equipped for immunological defense in the thymus. When a lymphocyte comes in contact with an antigen, it can be sensitized to it - i. e., all of its descendant cells will carry an antibody specific to that antigen.
The development of cellular immunity in the thymus takes place earlier than that of the humoral defense system, namely in the embryonic stage.
Not all lymphocytes take this developmental route. One kind, the T lymphocytes, are to some extent also able to ward off and destroy tumor cells. The T lymphocytes are responsible for direct cellular defense.
The B lymphocytes comprise the second group. These carry the immunoglobulins on their surface. However, the two lymphocyte types cannot be distinguished morphologically; the distinction is purely functional, and visible only under the electron microscope.
In the course of cell division, the lymphocyte becomes a plasma cell, which then produces immunoglobulins.
If antibody formation does not take place when an antigen invades the body, this is called immune tolerance. This is a sensible arrangement, since not every invader is pathogenic enough to warrant initiating a disease state. Thus, the individual organism is capable of deciding for itself.
Manual Lymph Drainage supports immune reactivity by stimulating lymph flow in order to drive the disease-causing substances more quickly into the lymph nodes, where they can be neutralized. Successfully warding off a microbe-based infection does not depend on its pathogenicity, but rather primarily on the reactive situation, the resistance of the affected organ system. Resistance is the overall defensive capability, and is not antigen-specific, but is influenced by genetic and general conditions (diet, stress). This is definitely aided and promoted by Manual Lymph Drainage. [3, 6]
1.2 Connective Tissue
The human organism consists on the one hand of symplasms and of fluid compartments on the other, which in turn have a fluid and a cellular component. Every cell then has its own specific share of fluids. Thus, we distinguish between extracellular fluid volume (ECF), intracellular fluid volume (ICF) and interstitial fluid volume. Since the human organism is partly an open system, there is an exchange of numerous components among the individual compartments, whereby various forces work in a regulatory capacity.
Of primary importance for Manual Lymph Drainage are the fluids of the blood, the lymph and organ connective tissue. Besides the hard supporting substances bone and cartilage and taut connective tissue such as tendons, fascia and ligaments, there is loose connective tissue, which is richer in cells than the other. It combines cells into tissue groups, tissue into organs, organs into an organism. The vascular structures of blood capillaries are integrated with connective tissue, as well as lymph capillaries and the nerve fibers of the autonomic nervous system. Connective tissue is made up of cells, fibers, the ground substance and fatty tissue. It is an organ.
1.2.1 The Cellular Portion of the Connective Tissue
The cellular portion is composed of mobile and fixed cells. The fixed cells are the fibrocytes or their precursors, the fibroblasts. Fibroblasts are much more active than fibrocytes and possess various differentiation options. They form the ground substance and the three kinds of connective tissue fibrils. They exude tropocollagen (a collagen precursor) in soluble form into their environment. Collagen fibrils, the basic structure of connective tissue, form by aggregation onto these molecules (fibrous structure).
The mobile cells are introduced into connective tissue via the blood. Mast cells are present everywhere in loose connective tissue, especially in the immediate vicinity of the vessels. This cell type contains copious amounts of histamine, which is released by the cell during inflammatory processes. This dilates the small vessels and increases their permeability. In addition, histamine stimulates the pain receptors in the tissue. The mast cells can carry immunoglobulin E. Histamine is also released in antigen-antibody reactions - which gives rise to the familiar symptoms of the allergic reaction.
Granulocytes: In connective tissue, there are neutrophilic and eosinophilic granulocytes. The latter turn up primarily during allergic reactions in the tissue. They are able to take up antigen-antibody complexes and break them down. The neutrophilic granulocytes appear during inflammatory reactions and are capable of phagocytosis.
Lymphocytes: This cell type (and the plasma cell, too) appears in strength in cases of immunological reactions in the tissue.
Histiocytes: These cells are related to the monocytes of the blood. They are especially numerous around fresh edemas, and are responsible for the proteolytic decomposition of proteins in the tissue. These smaller tissue components can then be carried off by the venous limb of the blood's vascular system.
Phagocytosis is the ability of a cell to ingest and digest foreign cells or cell fragments. [1]
1.2.2 Fibers
Fibrous tissue is differentiated, depending on its location, into collagen fibers, reticulin fibers and elastic fibers. They have a common origin in all having been formed from fibroblasts. A number of polypeptide chains are combined to make a tropocollagen molecule.
Collagen fibers: Tropocollagen molecules are laid together to create protofibrils, which are then joined to form a microfibril. The filaments lie in the interior of these microfibrils in an amorphous ground substance. The ground substance also functions as a lubricant and additionally allows the collagen fibrils to bend. Collagen fibers are a tensile element and are very inelastic. They are found in bones, cartilage, tendons and fascia, as well as in the subcutis. They are also combined with elastic fibers, protecting the elastic fibers from overextension and tearing.
Reticulin fibers: