Immunotoxic compound, defined

Immunotoxicology studies the effects of xenobiotics on the immune system an immunotoxic compound is defined as a compound that can alter one or more immune functions, resulting in an adverse effect for the host. In particular, two main immunotoxic effects can be identified ... 

Other immunotoxicants. The list of potentially immunotoxic substances is large (see reviews cited above), and includes diverse compounds—heavy metals such as lead (Blakley and Archer, 1981) and fungal alkaloids such as trichothecene alkaloids (Nasuda et al., 1982). The obvious questions raised are defining the range of compounds in our diet which are immunotoxic and the quantitation of the health risk associated with toxicant consumption. The lack of correlation between some in vivo and in vitro studies (e.g., Blakley and Archer, 1982) indicate that risk will be difficult to assess. 

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