Marie Curie was a famous French-Polish scientist known for her pioneering resear

Question

Marie Curie was a famous French-Polish scientist known for her pioneering research on radioactivity. Her work not only brought her fame but her death as well; she developed aplastic anemia due to radiation exposure. She experienced recurrent and prolonged infections (viral, bacterial, parasitic, and fungal). Explain why she suffered from recurrent infections. Be sure to mention the different types of WBC and the relation to the various infections, and the reasons why she lacked the cell-mediated and the humeral response. Be detailed in your explanation and support your answer with facts from your textbook, research, and articles from scholarly journals. In addition, remember to add references in APA format to your posts to avoid plagiarism.

Explanation / Answer

Phagocytes are a type of white blood cells engulf harmful microbes, worn out cells, cancer cells and foreign particles by a process known as phagocytosis, which is an innate defence mechanism. Phagocytosis can occur in any tissue, but it most often occurs in the blood, alveoli and interstitial space.

The white blood cells (WBCs) are classified into two groups, granulocytes, and agranulocyte.

The only type of WBC that cannot perform phagocytosis are, lymphocytes. Lymphocytes (T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes) are mainly involved in providing the defense against pathogens.

B-lymphocytes and plasma cells are directly involved in providing the humoral immunity. T lymphocytes directly participate in coordinating both the humoral (antibody mediates) and cellular immune responses. The cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (Tc cells) participate in the cell-mediated immunity, and the activation of B cells requires the T cells.

Neutrophils and monocytes (or leukocytes) engulf bacteria by a process called phagocytosis. White blood cells produce immune substances that help to defend the body against diseases, pathogens and foreign particles, gamma globulins synthesised by lymphocytes (agranulocytes) are particularly responsible for this process.

Thus, due to the immune functions served by different WBCs, Marie Curie suffered from immune-deficiency and became more susceptible to the bacterial and viral infections.

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