Immunity Against Mucosal Pathogens

Article Outline

• Copyright

Immunity Against Mucosal Pathogens by Dr Michael Vajdy is the 1st edition of a hard-covered volume of 524 pages (9 × 6 inches [15 × 24 cm]) that focuses on the architecture and function of the mucosal immune system, its role in the defense against mucosal pathogens, and on vaccination strategies against these microorganisms.

The book is divided into 6 parts. Parts 1 and 2, about one third of the book, provide a brief introduction to the architecture of the intestinal, respiratory, and genitourinary tracts and to the immunology of mucosal tissues. The following two thirds of the book focus on immunity and vaccination strategies against gastrointestinal (Part 3), respiratory (Part 4), and genital pathogens (Part 5). The book concludes with a chapter on general mucosal vaccine approaches (Part 6). More than 40 authors contributed to the book; about half of them are well-known authors in their fields.

The introductory chapters describe selected parts of the mucosal immune response, namely the mucosal B cell system, innate immunity, and the intestinal flora. These chapters are rather short and are therefore limited to a very broad, selective, and incomplete overview of the mucosal immune system. Although some parts of this immune system are highlighted (B cells and mucosal immunoglobulins), others are largely ignored (T cells, natural killer cells, and natural killer T cells). In addition, information on more recent advances in mucosal immunology is notably scarce, including the role of T-helper 17 cells, atypical major histocompatibility complex class I molecules, and regulation of immunity by mucosal immunoglobulin G and epithelial thymic stromal lymphopoietin, among many other topics. Indeed, even if these topics are briefly touched, the respective terms can often not be found in the incomplete index. However, it needs to be mentioned that a comprehensive description of the mucosal immune system is certainly beyond the scope of this book and readers interested in this topic are referred to more comprehensive literature (eg, Mucosal Immunology by Mestecky et al, Academic Press; 2005).

The main part of the book focuses on common mucosal pathogens, including HIV, Chlamydia trachomatis, influenza virus, Streptococcus pneumonia, Neisseria meningitidis, Norovirus, rotavirus, and Helicobacter pylori. These 12 chapters, each dedicated to a single pathogen, contain a comprehensive, and at times lengthy, description of the respective microorganism, the pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying the infection, and the subsequent immune reaction. Results from both human studies as well as animal models are described and common findings are highlighted. In addition, vaccination approaches and the determinants of immunity against the respective pathogens are discussed. Although the quality of the chapters is heterogeneous and the book is highly focused on only a dozen common pathogens, the chapters are detailed, comprehensive, and well-referenced, including the more recent literature. The book would benefit, however, from addition of figures and illustrations, which are scarce and of rather low quality throughout the book. In addition, a final chapter summarizing common patterns of immune responses against mucosal pathogens and highlighting major mechanisms and determinants of mucosal immunity would help to integrate the specific findings into a more complete picture of the mucosal immune system.

Bottom Line: This book offers an overview of mucosal immunity in response to a limited range of mucosal pathogens. This aspect of the book is therefore recommended to students, scientists, and medical doctors who are interested in obtaining an introduction to the specific immune responses against these pathogens. However, given the short, incomplete, and outdated description of the general mechanisms of mucosal immunity, readers interested in this topic should instead refer to recent review articles or other textbooks focusing on this topic. Conversely, readers interested in in-depth information about certain mucosal pathogens will likely not be satisfied with the amount of information provided by this book. All of this said, this is a rapidly developing field that currently lacks a concise textbook related to this topic. As a consequence, this book does fill, to some extent, this void.