Natural Defenses of the Respiratory System
Inhaled air is potentially harmful to the respiratory tract as it contains harmful particulate matter, such as dust particles, gases, and pathogens (Kuek & Lee, 2020). However, the respiratory system cilia, the mucus layer, and the alveolar macrophages as natural defenses of the respiratory tract. Get in touch with us at eminencepapers.com. We offer assignment help with high professionalism.
The cilia are present in the nose, the larynx, the upper trachea, and the bronchial tree. The cilia offer defense by moving the mucus throughout the respiratory tract and filtering inhaled air (Kuek & Lee, 2020). The mucus layer acts as a trap for the foreign materials that enter the respiratory tract with the inhaled air. The action of the mucus layers prevents these potentially harmful microparticles from reaching the lungs and causing any harm. The mucus also regulates immune response during infections (Khan et al., 2021). The mucus and cilia form the mucociliary escalator. Through mucociliary escalator pushes mucus and other filtered microparticles and organisms outwards to the outside of the tract or into the digestive system.
The lower respiratory tract, including the alveoli, is not protected by the mucociliary escalator to allow exchanges of gases. They contain the alveolar macrophages, a type of phagocytes within the alveoli walls. The alveolar macrophages actively remove deposited pathogens to prevent lung infections (Kulikauskaite & Wack, 2020). In case of a serious threat, a high number of alveolar macrophages are produced, and neutrophils are recruited to protect the lower respiratory system.
The mucus and cilia offer sufficient protection to the main portal of entry of the respiratory system. The ciliary action moves the respiratory mucus all over the nose while the respiratory mucus ensures the nose is hydrated. This allows the trapping of the inhaled particulate matter, and through the nasal mucociliary clearance, harmful particles are expelled from the nose.
References
Khan, M. A., Khan, Z. A., Charles, M., Pratap, P., Naeem, A., Siddiqui, Z., & Srivastava, S. (2021). Cytokine storm and mucus hypersecretion in COVID-19: review of mechanisms. Journal of Inflammation Research, 14, 175.
Kuek, L. E., & Lee, R. J. (2020). First contact: the role of respiratory cilia in host-pathogen interactions in the airways. American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, 319(4), L603-L619. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajplung.00283.2020
Kulikauskaite, J., & Wack, A. (2020). Teaching old dogs new tricks? The plasticity of lung alveolar macrophage subsets. Trends in immunology, 41(10), 864-877.
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Question 
Discuss the natural defenses of the respiratory tract.
Natural Defenses of the Respiratory System
Include your opinion on the adequacy of the natural defenses of the respiratory tract.
Discuss whether or not you think they are sufficient to protect the main portal of entry.
Explain your answers.