Your roommate is rushed to the hospital after suffering a severe allergic reaction to a bee sting. After she is treated and released, she asks you (the local biology expert!) to explain what happened. She says, 'I don't understand how this could have happened. I've been stung by bees before and didn't have a reaction.' Suggest an explanation for what has happened to cause her severe allergic reaction and why she did not have the reaction after previous bee stings.

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Hi everyone welcome back. The next question says which the following antibodies is produced during common allergic reactions. And let's just note the choice d here's all of the above so there's a chance that all the answers are correct. Well common allergic reactions. We think of things like anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis at its most severe level. Hives things like that and these are produced as a result of the action of I. G. E. Antibodies. And we see we have that choice. See here I'm just gonna market since we do have the option of all of the above. I. G antibodies are involved um in very rapid very intense reactions such as you might see in a very intense allergic reaction. Uh allergies tend to be small molecules and IgG antibodies react to that. It's theorized that they might have a role in protecting the body against venoms um of venomous animals. That's one theory uh and also involves protection against certain parasites. Um It's found in the tissues of the body rather than in the bloodstream and that's one of the reasons it's involved in that allergic reaction and why you see those tissue level responses. So let's just walk through our other answers um to see if any of the others are correct here. So choice A. Is I. G. A antibodies I. G. A antibodies are found in mucosal mucosal membranes and those are the ones you imagine the membranes those mucosal membranes lining the respiratory tract and the gut. So they're an important role in like the first line of defense protecting against bacteria or viruses that might be either inhaled through the respiratory system or um ingested in food. I. G. A antibodies can survive even in the harsh environment of the stomach and protect against pathogens that are introduced that way They actually can be passed along because they can survive in the stomach. They can be passed in breast milk to infants and survive in the infant's digestive tract but they are not involved in the allergic response. So we will cross that out and since we've eliminated choice A we can also eliminate choice D. All of the above. Now if we were on a test that would lead me to go ahead and select choice C. As my answer and move on. But we're just in the interest of thoroughness going on to look at Choice B which is I G. G. Um I G. G antibodies are the most common antibodies in the body. They circulate in the blood and bodily fluid. And there are those specific antibodies involved in promoting pathogens psychosis. When they bind to pathogens they activate that complement response and they maintain the memory for pathogens that they get introduced again and then as opposed to the allergic response mediated by I. G. E. Antibodies which is immediate and severe. The I. G. G response tends to be delayed and more mild than an allergic response. So that is not our answer is they're not involved in the allergic response. And again we see which antibody is produced during common allergic reactions, and that is choice c i g e e c u in the next video.

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Key Concepts

Allergic Reactions

Sensitization

IgE Antibodies