The mucosal immune system The immune system may be viewed as an organ that is distributed throughout the body to provide host defense against pathogens wherever these may enter or spread. Within the immune system, a series of anatomically distinct compartments can be distinguished, each of which is specially adapted to generate a response to pathogens present in a particular set of body tissues. A large compartment of the adaptive immune system which is located …showed first 75 words of 3983 total…

…showed last 75 words of 3983 total…in the bloodstream after feeding and there is evidence that the induction of tolerance to food antigens takes place in lymph nodes and spleen as well as in the mucosal lymphoid system. The second possible route of presentation of food antigens is by the enterocytes of the gut, which express MHC class I and MHC class II molecules in the absence of co-stimulatory molecules and thus may induce anergy on presenting antigens to intraepithelial lymphocytes.