Towards an extended view of immunity. A philosophical perspective

0561770 - FLÚ 2023 FR eng J - Článek v odborném periodiku
Zach, Martin - Greslehner, G. P.
Towards an extended view of immunity. A philosophical perspective.
Anaesthesia Critical Care & Pain Medicine. Roč. 41, č. 6 (2022), č. článku 101156. E-ISSN 2352-5568
Institucionální podpora: RVO:67985955
Klíčová slova: COVID-19 * defence * disease tolerance * immunology * philosophy of science
Obor OECD: Philosophy, History and Philosophy of science and technology
Impakt faktor: 5.5, rok: 2022
Způsob publikování: Open access
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accpm.2022.101156

The fundamental understanding of immunity has been shaped by a narrow view that requires some re-thinking: the idea that the immune system’s sole purpose is to protect the host from invading pathogens. While many immunologists will acknowledge the flaws and explanatory gaps in this narrative, it is still the central idea evoked when discussing what the immune system is and does. As popular and dominant as this received view might be, there are a plethora of findings challenging it. It is increasingly recognised that the immune system is not only involved in defending an organism against external or internal threats. Also repair, development, metabolism, regulation, and interactions with other systems of the body are among the key functions of the immune system. All these immune functions, including defence, are performed together with other non-immune cells. This calls for an extended view of immunity, which we further illustrate below by discussing disease tolerance, a defence strategy employed by the host to minimise tissue damage without affecting the pathogen load. This perspective, which requires taking the whole organism into account, impacts how we approach therapies and interventions in conditions such as COVID-19. We argue what such an extended view might look like, why it is needed, what its practical consequences are, and how philosophy of science can be useful for such an endeavour.
Trvalý link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0334334