The immune system is a system of biological structures and processes within an organism that

protects against disease. To function properly, an immune system must detect a wide variety of
agents, known as pathogens, from viruses to parasitic worms, and distinguish them from the
organism's own healthy tissue. In many species, the immune system can be classified into
subsystems, such as the innate immune system versus the adaptive immune system, or humoral
immunity versus cell-mediated immunity.

Pathogens can rapidly evolve and adapt, and thereby avoid detection and neutralization by the
immune system; however, multiple defense mechanisms have also evolved to recognize and
neutralize pathogens. Even simple unicellular organisms such as bacteriapossess a rudimentary
immune system, in the form of enzymes that protect against bacteriophage infections. Other basic
immune mechanisms evolved in ancient eukaryotes and remain in their modern descendants, such
as plants and insects. These mechanisms include phagocytosis, antimicrobial
peptides called defensins, and the complement system. Jawed vertebrates, including humans, have
even more sophisticated defense mechanisms,[1] including the ability to adapt over time to recognize
specific pathogens more efficiently. Adaptive (or acquired) immunity creates immunological
memory after an initial response to a specific pathogen, leading to an enhanced response to
subsequent encounters with that same pathogen. This process of acquired immunity is the basis
ofvaccination.

The endocrine system refers to the collection of glands of an organism

that secrete hormones directly into the circulatory system to be carried towards a distant target
organ. The major endocrine glands include the pineal gland, pituitary
gland, pancreas, ovaries,testes, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, hypothalamus, gastrointestinal
tract and adrenal glands. The endocrine system is in contrast to the exocrine system, which secretes
its hormones using ducts. The endocrine system is an information signal system like the nervous
system, yet its effects and mechanism are classifiably different. The endocrine system's effects are
slow to initiate, and prolonged in their response, lasting from a few hours up to weeks. The nervous
system sends information very quickly, and responses are generally short lived. In vertebrates, the
hypothalamus is the neural control center for all endocrine systems. The field of study dealing with
the endocrine system and its disorders is endocrinology, a branch of internal medicine.

Special features of endocrine glands are, in general, their ductless nature, their vascularity, and
commonly the presence of intracellular vacuoles or granules that store their hormones. In
contrast, exocrine glands, such as salivary glands, sweat glands, andglands within
the gastrointestinal tract, tend to be much less vascular and have ducts or a hollow lumen.
In addition to the specialised endocrine organs mentioned above, many other organs that are part of
other body systems, such asbone, kidney, liver, heart and gonads, have secondary endocrine
functions. For example the kidney secretes endocrine hormones such as erythropoietin and renin.

A number of glands that signal each other in sequence are usually referred to as an axis, for
example, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.
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