Tolérance ou réactivité aux allergènes

The default response to allergens is peripheral tolerance, often partial, mainly through immune deviation or suppression by adaptive regulatory T cells. Functional plasticity of dendritic cells and T cells on contact with antigens plus the modulating effects of infection may lead to a failure to acquire or a rupture of immunological tolerance to allergens in genetically predisposed individuals. Specific immunotherapy can restore tolerance by switching allergen-specific responses to less polarized lymphocytes and/or by activating regulatory T cells and IL-10 production.