AGING AND IMMUNOGLOBULIN ISOTYPE PATTERNS IN ORAL TOLERANCE

In the present review we address oral tolerance as an important biolog ical phenomenon and discuss how it is affected by aging. Other factors such as frequency of feeding and previous digestion of the antigen al so seem to influence the establishment of oral tolerance. We also anal yze immunoglobulin isotypes of specific antibodies formed by tolerant and immunized animals of different ages submitted to different conditi ons of oral antigen administration. Isotypic patterns were studied as a parameter for assessing the pathways of B and T cell interactions le ading to antibody production.