PLASMA THERAPY OR PASSIVE IMMUNIZATION

General introduction

Plasma :- plasma is the liquid, cell free part of blood. it is liquid matrix of blood, it is about 55% of your blood.

plasma is yellowish in color due to the presence of pigment called as bilirubin.

Composition

it contains about 90% water.

solid part :- 8 to 10%  

1.proteins :- 6 to 7%  

A. Globulin :- produce and secreted by liver and lymphoid organ.

In blood 3 types of globulin present.

alpha globulin

beta globulin

Gama globulin - it is produced by lymphoid organs. it is present in the form of antibodies which destroy bacteria, virus & toxic substances. Also called as immunoglobulins.

Gama globulin is of 5 types

IgG

IgA

IgM

IgD

IgE

B. Albumin

C. Prothrombin :- Help in blood clotting.

D. Fibronogen :- Help in blood clotting.

NOTE:- PLASMA WITHOUT CLOTTING FACTORS IS CALLED AS SERUM.

Function 

Plasma is designed to carry nutrients, hormones, and proteins to the different parts of the body.

it also carries away the waste products of cell.

1.What is plasma therapy?

FATHER OF PASSIVE IMMUNIZATION :- Von Behring 'He discovered the process of passive immunization'.

He prepared the antidiphtherial serum (ADS) by injecting antigen into sheep.

Plasma therapy or passive  immunization is only possible due to the self healing property of our body.

When any pathogen (disease causing agent) enters in our body our immune system get activates and producing a army of antibodies. These antibodies binds with pathogens and destroy them.

Some peoples have strong immune system their immune system do it fastly .

But some have weak and their immune system do not produce sufficient antibodies in require time to fight with that pathogen.

In passive immunization we give ready made antibodies to the patients so that these antibodies fight with the pathogen and destroyed it.

It is the plasma which contains antibodies so we also called it plasma therapy.

We take plasma from recovered patients for a specific pathogen and then give it to another affected patients(infect by same pathogen) whose immune system  can't able to produce them Fastly.

Active immunization  is just opposite  to it. In active immunization  we don't give ready made antibodies to heal .

We use vaccines (contain the weak form of disease causing agent ) to developed immunity inside the person for Any specific pathogen. 

When next time that particular pathogen enters in the body our immune system recognize it an acts fastly to kill that pathogen. 

This is also called secondary response or anamnestic response.

In the case of snake bite we need fast antibodies production which our body can not able to do.  so, we use ready made antibodies which make through horses. because, horses can produce antibodies against venom and do not die easily on snake bites.

You know that after snake bite within 2-3 hour the person dies.

So we need fast action to destroy that pathogenic substances (venom). 

In this case we don't  wait for the response of the patient own immune system to produce antibodies.

So, we give ready made antibodies also called as anti-serum. 
The injections which is given to the patient contained performed antibodies against the snake venom.

Anti serum is plasma without clotting factor  but contains (immunoglobulins) 

To fight with specific pathogen.

In the case of covid-19 we also use convalescent plasma therapy to treat the patient. 

2.How plasma is separated OR collected  from blood ?

plasma, which is used to make life saving plasma protein therapies, is collected by a  process known as plasmapheresis. During this process, an automated device is used to separate the plasma from the blood.

Once the plasma is collected, red blood cells and other components are returned to the donor. After the plasma is collected, it is tested for suitability for further manufacture, frozen, and then held for 60 days prior to pooling(mixing all plasma collected from different donors).

it must pass these rigorous steps to be pooled with other plasma donations.

each plasma pool is further tested before the protein extraction process begins.

During this process, life saving protein are extracted from the plasma.

The separated, specific proteins are purified and adjust for optimal dosage before becoming the finished therapeutic product.Each source plasma donation is tracked the entire time.

3.How it is helpful in treatment?

Convalescent plasma is the liquid portion of blood gathered from someone who has recovered from a particular disease. Some promote using convalescent plasma in treatment as it may contain antibodies that can help a recipient to better fend off an infection.

Convalescent plasma has been investigated in previous outbreaks of respiratory infections, including with the SARS epidemic in 2003, the H1N1 virus between 2009 and 2010, the MERS outbreak in 2012 and the Ebola virus in West Africa in 2014.

4.Is it final  treatment ?

It is not the final treatment for pandemics until we are not vaccinated and develop immunity against the pathogen.

But, For many disease like tetanus, diphtheria, botulism we give plasma therapy to cure. 

This process not applicable for all diseases due to some limitation.