Immunoproliferative disorders (also known as “immunoproliferative diseases” or “immunoproliferative neoplasms”) are disorders of the immune system

Immune system

An immune system is a system of biological structures and processes within an organism that protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumor cells. It detects a wide variety of agents, from viruses to parasitic worms, and needs to distinguish them from the organism's own...

 that are characterized by the abnormal proliferation of the primary cells of the immune system, which includes B cell

B cell

B cells are lymphocytes that play a large role in the humoral immune response . The principal functions of B cells are to make antibodies against antigens, perform the role of antigen-presenting cells and eventually develop into memory B cells after activation by antigen interaction...

s, T cell

T cell

T cells or T lymphocytes belong to a group of white blood cells known as lymphocytes, and play a central role in cell-mediated immunity. They can be distinguished from other lymphocytes, such as B cells and natural killer cells , by the presence of a T cell receptor on the cell surface. They are...

s and Natural killer (NK) cells, or by the excessive production of immunoglobulins (also known as antibodies).

Classes

These disorders are subdivided into three main classes, which are lymphoproliferative disorders

Lymphoproliferative disorders

Lymphoproliferative disorders refer to several conditions in which lymphocytes are produced in excessive quantities. They typically occur in patients who have compromised immune systems...

, hypergammaglobulinemia

Hypergammaglobulinemia

Hypergammaglobulinemia is a medical condition with elevated levels of gamma globulin.It is a type of immunoproliferative disorder.- Types :...

, and paraproteinemia

Paraproteinemia

Paraproteinemia, or monoclonal gammopathy, is the presence of excessive amounts of a single monoclonal gammaglobulin in the blood...

. The first is cellular, and the other two are humoral (however, humoral excess can be secondary to cellular excess.)

• Lymphoproliferative disorders (LPDs) refer to several conditions in which lymphocytes are produced in excessive quantities. They typically occur in patients who have compromised immune systems. This subset is sometimes incorrectly equated with "immunoproliferative disorders".

• Humoral
  • Hypergammaglobulinemia is characterized by increased levels of immunoglobulins in the blood serum. Five different hypergammaglobulinemias are caused by an excess of immunoglobulin M
    Immunoglobulin M
    Immunoglobulin M, or IgM for short, is a basic antibody that is produced by B cells. It is the primary antibody against A and B antigens on red blood cells. IgM is by far the physically largest antibody in the human circulatory system...
    
    (IgM), and some types are caused by a deficiency in the other major types of immunoglobulins.
  • Paraproteinemia or monoclonal gammopathy is the presence of excessive amounts of a single monoclonal gammaglobulin (called a paraprotein) in the blood.

External links

• immunoproliferative enteropathy
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