Immunological Tolerance

Immunological Tolerance: how the body learns to be tolerant

The body's immune system plays an important role in protecting against infections and diseases, but sometimes it can mistakenly attack its own tissues and cells, leading to immune diseases such as autoimmune diseases. To prevent such mistakes, the body develops mechanisms that allow it to distinguish between “self” and “foreign” and not attack its own tissues and cells. One of these mechanisms is immunological tolerance.

Immunological tolerance is the inability of the body to distinguish its own substances, to which it should be tolerant, from foreign substances, against which it should produce antibodies. This mechanism develops in the early stages of life and allows the body not to react to “its” antigens, i.e. proteins and other substances that are normally found in the body.

One of the ways to achieve immunological tolerance is thymic dependent tolerance, which develops in the thymus, an organ of the immune system located behind the chest. In the thymus, thymocytes are selected - cells that then become T-lymphocytes responsible for the immune response. During the selection process, thymocytes that can recognize “self” antigens are removed, and those that can recognize “foreign” antigens remain and become T lymphocytes.

Another way to achieve immunological tolerance is tissue and organ transfer. When a tissue or organ is transferred from one body to another, the recipient's immune system may react to it as "foreign" and attempt to attack it. However, if a tissue or organ is transferred before the recipient's immune system is fully developed, it may "perceive" it as its own and not attack it.

Immunological tolerance can also be achieved through exposure to “foreign” antigens in very small quantities. This method is called immunotolerance and is used in medicine to treat allergic reactions and autoimmune diseases.

Immunological tolerance is an important mechanism that allows the body to distinguish between “self” and “foreign”, and prevents an attack on its own tissues and cells. It helps maintain balance in the immune system and protects the body from autoimmune diseases. However, when this mechanism is disrupted, the immune system can begin to attack its own tissues and cells, leading to various diseases. Therefore, understanding immunological tolerance and its mechanisms is very important for the development of new methods of treatment and prevention of immune diseases.

In conclusion, immunological tolerance is a complex mechanism that allows the body to distinguish between “self” and “foreign” and maintain balance in the immune system. Its achievement depends on various factors such as thymocyte selection, tissue and organ transfer, and immunotolerance. Understanding these mechanisms helps develop new methods for treating and preventing immune diseases and improving people's quality of life.

Immunological tolerance is the inability of the body to distinguish its own substances produced in it from foreign ones, against which antibodies must be developed. This occurs because the body stops producing antibodies to foreign substances if the antigen was introduced before the system that produces antibodies has fully developed. The presence of an antigen in a developing cell appears to suppress the production of antibodies in that cell.

Immunological tolerance is a process in which the body does not react to its own antigens due to the lack of reaction between the antigen and the cells of the immune system. That is, immunity only works against foreign antigens. Immune tolerance is an important component for maintaining human health. Otherwise, we would react to all components of our body, which could lead to autoimmune diseases or allergic reactions.

Immunological tolerance is achieved by inhibiting the B cells responsible for producing antibodies. When antigens enter the body, T lymphocytes break down immune cells into fragments. They also try to limit the number of cells that can start producing antibodies so as not to cause autoimmune reactions. However, even after such treatment, there are antigens to which the body cannot produce antibodies. This occurs because immune cells are already reacting to these antigens or because they are located inside developing cells. This phenomenon is called innate immunological tolerance.

The role of immune tolerance is important in organ transplantation, as well as in clinical trials of new drugs. Patients need to have a tolerant immune system, otherwise an aggressive immune response to the new environment may occur. Thus, immunological tolerance can be called an important immune mechanism to prevent autoimmune diseases or any other problems.