Handbook of Human Immunology PDF

Preface

Since the publication of the fi rst edition of the Handbook of Human Immunology in 1997, major scientifi c achievements have contributed directly to an increased understanding of the complexities of the human immune system in health and disease. Whether directly as a result of the sequencing of the entire human genome or as a result of the technological advancements in the completion of the latter, several new components of the immune system have been revealed, and new technologies for their measurement and evaluation have been developed. In the past decade, the number of recognized clusters of differentiation (CD) on the surface of leukocytes and associated cells has more than doubled; an entire new chemokine and chemokine receptor nomenclature system has been established; the number of "lymphokines" (now greater than 30) and humanized monoclonal antibody therapy have become a staple of our pharmacologic armamentarium (to mention only a few of the signifi - cant immunological developments of the past decade). The discovery of all of these immune system components has been accompanied by the development of new and improved methods for their detection as well as the recognition of the roles that these components play in health and disease. These major breakthroughs are refl ected in the present edition of the Handbook of Human Immunology.

There are six new chapters for a total of 20 (compared to 14 in the previous edition) written by 12 new authors covering all the major components of the innate and adaptive human immune system, descriptions of the specifi c human conditions characterized by their assessment, the specifi c technologies and methods currently used for their measurement, and fi nally the relevance and potential pitfalls involved in the interpretation of their specifi c measurements.

As in the past, the book is introduced with an overview of the immune system, which is immediately followed by a new, practical, and fun-to-read chapter on "Statistics of Immunological Testing" that is invaluable both in interpreting test results and also in the validation of new tests and the development of reference ranges. Throughout this edition, readers will fi nd "normal ranges" including serum immunoglobulins, complement components, cytokines, and new to this edition-age-associated normal ranges for lymphocyte subsets. The fi rst edition's chapter on fl ow cytometry has been expanded into six completely revised chapters including a thorough treatise on general fl ow cytometry principles and practice, quality control and theory, leukemia and lymphoma immunophenotyping analyses along with cytogenetic abnormalities, an update on CD4 measurement guidelines in HIV-infected persons and two new chapters covering (1) the fl ow cytometry–based diagnosis of primary immunodefi ciency disease and (2) a history of the human leukocyte differentiation antigen workshops (now renamed the human cell differentiation antigen workshops) along with two comprehensive and very informative tables on CD.

The chapters on clinical laboratory disease monitoring include laboratory methods for monitoring new biological therapies in the context of clinical trials and routine practice, an entire chapter devoted specifi cally to the immunological assessment of gastrointestinal diseases, and a global review of the laboratory assessment of autoimmune disease. Infectious disease monitoring is discussed from the serological perspective, as well as the timely review of the technology and applications of new and now well-established molecular techniques. Finally, the laboratory's role in bone marrow and solid organ transplant is presented from the perspectives of antibody screening and crossmatching as well as molecular-based human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing, followed by Chapter 20, which presents novel methods for monitoring functional immunosuppression of alloreactivity in patients posttransplant.

This edition of the handbook provides a practical reference of the important immunological parameters along with up-to-date descriptions of the methods used for their assessment and applications in health and disease. The text is particularly relevant to practicing clinicians, clinical laboratory professionals, and students interested in human immunology both from laboratory and applied clinical perspectives.