glossary

immunological tolerance

Definition immunological tolerance

immunological tolerancehol

immunological tolerance a failure of the body to distinguish between materials that are "self", and therefore to be tolerated, and those that are "not self", against which antibodies are produced. For example, the body fails to produce antibodies against foreign materials if an antigen has previously been introduced into the body before the antibody-producing system is mature; apparently the presence of antigen within the growing cells inhibits antibody formation.