Oral tolerance: mobilizing the gut

H L Weiner1

  • 1Harvard University, Boston, USA.

Hospital Practice (1995)
|September 15, 1995
PubMed

Immunologically active lymphoid tissue in gut mucosa is preferentially programmed to inhibit autoimmune reactions, a property that can be exploited by oral administration of self-antigen. Identifying the target autoantigens to use in oral preparations may not be necessary. The trigger for oral tolerization is antigen-specific, but suppressive events in the target organ are nonspecific.