Dictionary of Biological Psychology
The suppression of the immune response (see IMMUNE SYSTEM) which occurs when TOLERANCE develops following repeated exposure to an ANTIGEN; in response to GLUCOCORTICOID hormones (CORTISOL, CORTICOSTERONE), which decrease the number of LYMPHOCYTES in the blood and reduce the phagocytotic activity of MACROPHAGES and NEUTROPHILS; and by immunosuppressant DRUGS which inhibit T cell activation.
X-rays cause immunosuppression by killing lymphocytes. Certain types of VIRUS, such as HIV (AIDS) cause immunosuppression, leaving their hosts open to disease. Parasitoids suppress both the humoral and cellular components of the immune system of their insect hosts by injecting a polydnavirus into them.
RICHARD E.BROWN
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