| [ Summary ] |
Orally administered proteins induce systemic hyporesponsiveness to the ingested protein. The mechanism underlylng such "oral tolerance" depends on the amount of antigen ingested, with higher doses inducing deletion and anergy in the antigen-specific T cell, while lower doses induce active suppression by regulatory T cells. Orally administered autoantigens suppress many experimental autoimmune diseases such as experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, arthritis, uvelitis, diabetes and myasthenia gravis. Furthermore, some clinical trials have provided promising results for potential use of oral tolerance for the prevention and treatment of autoimmune diseases. Thus, clinical application of oral tolerance can be a great help in the improvement of quality of life for patients with autoimmune diseases. |