5 things you may not know (but should) about the immune system

The immune system protects us from viruses, bacteria and parasites, but also from our own cells, mutated by disease. With autumn also comes flu, fever and colds, and the immune system is critical to our survival. We bring you a number of facts you may not have known about our number one ally. Inside the mother's womb are lymphocytes, which are the most aggressive cells of the immune system. During pregnancy these cells decrease their aggressiveness and indeed during the first weeks of gestation they support the fetus by producing specific growth factors.

The immune system tends to attack human pancreatic cells, but this can be avoided: the immune system is tricked into placing the cells in capsules that are not attacked thereby maintaining their ability to produce insulin.

The immune system is distributed throughout the body through a complex network comprising a series of organs responsible for the production of white blood cells, tissues and circulating cells, put in communication with each other through lymphatic vessels. Immune cells are also distributed throughout the body's tissues, which they reach through blood circulation.

Blood is home to some of the most important cells of the immune system, phagocytes and lymphocytes. These cells guard the body. Phagocytes are the first defense, while pathogens that manage to overcome it come up against lymphocytes.

The immune system can influence social interactions. This happens because it is in communication with the brain and appears to play a determining role in social behaviors.