This is the collection of some multiple-choice questions to check your understanding of immunology; definitions, terms, concepts, etc. At the end of these Immunology MCQs, I also posted the answers. I expect persons with good exposure to immunology must give correct answers to at least 14 questions; if you fail to do so, please revise immunology once again.

71. Naturally acquired active immunity would be most likely acquired through which of the following processes?
a. vaccination
b. drinking colostrum
c. natural birth
d. infection with disease-causing organism followed by recovery
72. Which of the following conveys the longest-lasting immunity to an infectious agent?
a. Naturally acquired passive immunity
b. Artificially acquired passive immunity
c. Naturally acquired active immunity
d. All of these
e. None of these
73. Which substances will not stimulate an immune response unless they are bound to a larger molecule?
a. Antigen
b. Virus
c. Hapten
d. Miligen
e. Antibody
74. B and T cells are produced by stem cells that are formed in:
a. Bone marrow
b. The liver
c. The circulatory system
d. The spleen
e. The lymph nodes
75. B cells mature in the……….. while T cells mature in the
a. Thymus/bone marrow and gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT)
b. Spleen/bone marrow and GALT
c. Bone marrow and GALT/thymus
d. Liver/kidneys
76. Which of the following immune cells/molecules are most effective at destroying intracellular pathogens?
a. T helper cells
b. B cells
c. Antibodies
d. Complement
e. T cytolytic cells
77. A living microbe with reduced virulence that is used for vaccination is considered:
a. A toxoid
b. Dormant
c. Virulent
d. Attenuated
e. Denatured
78. B cells that produce and release large amounts of antibodies are called:
a. Memory cells
b. Basophils
c. Plasma cells
d. Killer cells
e. Neutrophils
79. The specificity of an antibody is due to
a. Its valence
b. The heavy chains
c. The Fc portion of the molecule
d. The variable portion of the heavy and light chain
80. In agglutination reactions, the antigen is a……… and in precipitation reactions, the antigen is a…………...
a. whole-cell/soluble molecule
b. Soluble molecule/whole-cell
c. Bacterium/virus
d. Protein/carbohydrates
e. Protein/antibody
You may also like to practice:
1. MCQ in Immunology (86-100): Antibodies
2. MCQs in Immunology (41-55): Basic Immunology
3. MCQs in Immunology (31-40): Complement System
81. B Cells are activated by
a. Complement
b. Antibody
c. Interferon
d. Memory cells
e. Antigen
82. Fusion between a plasma cell and a tumor cell creates a
a. Myeloma
b. Natural killer cell
c. Lymphoblast
d. Lymphoma
e. Hybridoma
83. Monoclonal antibodies recognize a single:
a. Antigen
b. Bacterium
c. Epitope
d. B cell
e. Virus
84. Cell-mediated immunity is carried out by………….. while humoral immunity is mainly carried out by………………..
a. B cells/T cells
b. Epitopes/antigens
c. T cells/B cells
d. Antibodies/antigens
e. Antibodies/phagocytes
85. The ability of the immune system to recognize self-antigens versus nonself antigen is an example of:
a. Specific immunity
b. Tolerance
c. Cell-mediated immunity
d. Antigenic immunity
e. Humoral immunity
Answers of MCQ Immunology: Basic Concepts (71-85)
71. It’s the easiest MCQ in microbiology. You have to know only the definition of naturally acquired active immunity. Naturally acquired active immunity is produced when the person is exposed to an infectious agent. So the answer is “d”.
72. Active immunity can last a lifetime or for a period of weeks, months, or years, depending on how long the antibodies persist. So only one option in the choice contains active immunity as a part of the answer. The answer is “c”
73. Hapten is a small molecule; it can act as an antigen if it binds to a larger protein molecule. So the answer is “c”
74. This question asked you which stem cell is the immediate precursor of B Cell and T cell. The early development of stem cells takes place in primitive tissue, a late development in the fetal liver, and final development in the bone marrow. So the answer is “a” i.e. bone marrow.
75. Do you remember the sentence; T cells are thymus-derived cells? If you can remember, you already solved this question. If not you might remember that “differentiation of B Cell takes place in the bone marrow and functional B cells are found in Gut-associated Lymphoid tissue (GALT)”. Yes the right answer is “c”
76. T cytolytic cell Tc cells and Natural killer cells kill infected host cells which are harboring the intracellular pathogen. So the answer is option “e”
77. Attenuated means weakened. While making a live attenuated vaccine the virulence of the microorganism is lost but its antigenic characteristics are retained. The answer is “d”.
78. In this question, the definition is given and the word is asked. The definition of a plasma cell is “B Cell that is capable of producing a large number of antibodies”. So the answer is “c”
I have only posted the answers to the questions from 9-15, if you have any problem understanding those, leave a comment. I will post the explanations.
79. The variable portion of heavy and light chain
80. Whole-cell/soluble molecule
81. Antigen
82. Hybridoma
83. Epitope
84. T cells/B cells
85. Tolerance
Test your understanding of Immunology. Try our dedicated MCQ Quiz section for Immunology.