The Gell-Coombs classification of hypersensitivity reactions: a re-interpretation.

Gell and Coombs classified hypersensitivity reactions into four 'types'. I suggest that the premise that these reactions represent 'hypersensitivity' manifestations is limiting and that they represent four major strategies that the body uses to combat infectious agents. I further propose that there is a fifth strategy that was not envisioned in the Gell and Coombs classification.

[1]  F. Finkelman,et al.  Cytokine regulation of host defense against parasitic gastrointestinal nematodes: lessons from studies with rodent models. , 1997, Annual review of immunology.

[2]  H. P. Treffers,et al.  QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL STUDIES ON COMPLEMENT OR ALEXIN , 2005 .

[3]  G. Choquet-Kastylevsky,et al.  Gell and Coombs's classification: is it still valid? , 2001, Toxicology.

[4]  B. M. Christensen,et al.  Hemocyte-mediated melanization of microfilariae in Aedes aegypti. , 1986, The Journal of parasitology.

[5]  P. Gell,et al.  Clinical aspects of immunology , 1968 .

[6]  G. Friman,et al.  Is juvenile diabetes a viral disease? , 1993, Annals of medicine.

[7]  E. Bendiner.  Baron von Pirquet: the aristocrat who discovered and defined allergy. , 1981, Hospital practice.

[8]  J. Appleton,et al.  Intestinal mucus entrapment of Trichinella spiralis larvae induced by specific antibodies. , 1991, Immunology.

[9]  M. Strand,et al.  Immunological basis for compatibility in parasitoid-host relationships. , 1995, Annual review of entomology.

[10]  G. Miller,et al.  A new complement function: solubilization of antigen-antibody aggregates. , 1975, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[11]  Fudenberg Hh,et al.  An appetite for armadillo. , 1981 .

[12]  V. Nussenzweig,et al.  Mechanism of Solubilization of Immune Aggregates by Complement. Implications for Immunopathology , 1976, Transplantation reviews.

[13]  R. Good.  Disorders of the Immune System , 1967 .