Tolerance, immunologic definition

Apart from being complex, the human immune system also changes during the body s growth and development. The defense mechanisms involved in building immunity are equally complex. Thus, it is extremely difficult to formulate definite statements on the effect of particular environmental components on the immunological tolerance of a human body, including the impact of diet on the immune system. Until now, the research on human nutrition has focused primarily on the effect of... 

The existing definitions used by various authors are influenced by diverging attitudes towards induction. Several expressions are used synonymously to describe hardening phenomena accommodation (McOsker and Beck 1967), chemical calluses (Klaschka 1985), adaptation phenomena (Klaschka 1985), local hypo-reactivity (Andersen et al. 1987) and immunological tolerance (Wilkinson and Rycroft 1986). These terms show that no real clear delimitation is available between an adaptation to substances with exclusively irritative potential and adaptation to allergens in the case of proven sensitization. 

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