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discotititis t1_j8ysyeh wrote

I’m on mobile so pardon my formatting.

> The body’s bacteria along with antibodies find and detect its existence.

This is not true. Yes, there have been some studies that show that commensal bacteria are important for signaling to T cells. However, they do not activate T cells. T cell activation only occurs upon recognition of an antigenic peptide presented upon the MHC molecule of a dendritic cell in the lymph node. Signaling from commensal bacteria only has an effect once T cell activation occurs, when it can affect the differentiation of a T cell down different lineages. T cells can only then activate B cells, which produce antibodies. Antibodies for previously unknown viruses do not exist in the body yet—that’s why it takes so long to mount an immune response because it takes some time for a T cell with the correct receptor to recognize the virus as presented on a dendritic cell.

The initial recognition of a virus, though, occurs from innate immune cells that can recognize patterns present in lots of viruses. In response, these innate immune cells produce cytokines that begin the process of inflammation and activate dendritic cells to take up virus and travel to the thymus. These cytokines can affect the differentiation of T cells down different lineages (killer, helper types 1, 2, and 17, regulatory, follicular). These cytokines also affect the type of antibody produced, as different antibodies have different properties for better neutralizing different kinds of microbes.

Notice how the thymus isn’t involved in any of this. It’s very important but it doesn’t really play a role in the basics of the immune response.

I really wouldn’t rely off random internet doctors for immunology research, sorry. Way too many conspiracy theorists online. Research papers are also going to be way too advanced at this stage. Sompayrac is your best bet. I’ll even sell you my copy. Even Cells at Work (on Netflix) is going to be more accurate and helpful.

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Michaelcycle13 t1_j8yu7yq wrote

Haha we're saying the same thing about the commensal bacteria aspect. I never did say that commensal bacteria activated the T cells as you so put. I'd love to hear more from you. I'm a Long Covid struggler who's on the mend. A lot of people don't know what is going on, medical professionals especially, however, everyone has their theories.

I think through discourse like this we're only going to improve in knowledge and learn more. Obviously I do not have a background in immunology as you say you have. I've also been looking into starting a Long Covid Collaboratory podcast where we bring in other people struggling to share stories, share what helped us, and discuss symptoms. Would you ever be interested in saying some words?

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