Question

Person accidentally ingests a pathogenic bacterium through contaminated food. reflect on the body's nonspecific defenses, such as bariers, cellular defense, interferons, and the inflammatory response. explain how the immune system would react to this bacterial infection as the food passes from the person's mouth, esophagus, to the stomach.

Answer 1

The body's nonspecific defenses protect against a pathogenic bacterium ingested through contaminated food by destroying bacteria, creating an acidic environment, and trapping pathogens in the mucus layer.

Step-by-step explanation:

The body's nonspecific defenses include physical barriers, cellular defense, interferons, and the inflammatory response. In the case of ingesting a pathogenic bacterium through contaminated food, these defenses would work together to protect the body. Here is how the immune system would react as the food passes from the mouth to the stomach:

1. The saliva in the mouth, which contains lysozymes, would destroy bacteria by digesting their cell walls.
2. The food would then move through the esophagus and into the stomach, where the acidic environment would be fatal to many pathogens.
3. If any pathogens survive the stomach, the mucus layer of the gastrointestinal tract would trap them.
4. In the case of the upper respiratory tract, ciliated epithelial cells would move potentially contaminated mucus upwards to the mouth, where it is then swallowed into the stomach.

Overall, the body's nonspecific defenses would work to prevent the pathogenic bacterium from causing an infection.