Desensitization (medicine)
Encyclopedia
For medical purposes, desensitization is a method to reduce or eliminate an organism's negative reaction to a substance or stimulus.
For example, if a person with diabetes mellitus
has a bad allergic reaction
to taking a full dose
of beef insulin
, the doctor gives the person a very small amount of the insulin at first. Over a period of time, larger doses are given until the person is taking the full dose. This is one way to help the body get used to the full dose and to avoid having the allergic reaction to beef-origin insulin.
At the cellular level, administration of small doses of toxin
produces an IgG response which eventually overrides the hypersensitive
IgE
response. A different mechanism is responsible for desensitization to antibiotics, which is performed over a shorter time course than desensitization to other allergies. In this form of desensitization, the patient is slowly exposed to a level of antibiotic that produces low-grade anaphylaxis. At the end of the procedure, the patient's mast cells have depleted their granular contents, and the patient cannot undergo any allergic response until these cells restore these contents.
In pharmacology
, desensitization is the loss of responsiveness to the continuing or increasing dose of a drug. Also termed tachyphylaxis
, downregulation
, fade or drug tolerance. This may be an important area to consider for the future design of safer drugs.
For example, if a person with diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced...
has a bad allergic reaction
Allergy
An Allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system. Allergic reactions occur when a person's immune system reacts to normally harmless substances in the environment. A substance that causes a reaction is called an allergen. These reactions are acquired, predictable, and rapid...
to taking a full dose
Dose (biochemistry)
A dose is a quantity of something that may impact an organism biologically; the greater the quantity, the larger the dose. In nutrition, the term is usually applied to how much of a specific nutrient is in a person's diet or in a particular food, meal, or dietary supplement...
of beef insulin
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle....
, the doctor gives the person a very small amount of the insulin at first. Over a period of time, larger doses are given until the person is taking the full dose. This is one way to help the body get used to the full dose and to avoid having the allergic reaction to beef-origin insulin.
At the cellular level, administration of small doses of toxin
Toxin
A toxin is a poisonous substance produced within living cells or organisms; man-made substances created by artificial processes are thus excluded...
produces an IgG response which eventually overrides the hypersensitive
Hypersensitivity
Hypersensitivity refers to undesirable reactions produced by the normal immune system, including allergies and autoimmunity. These reactions may be damaging, uncomfortable, or occasionally fatal. Hypersensitivity reactions require a pre-sensitized state of the host. The four-group classification...
IgE
IGE
IGE was one of the largest services company buying and selling virtual currencies and accounts for MMORPG. During its peak time, it had offices in Los Angeles, China , and headquarters & customer service centre in Hong Kong. IGE was one of the main monopoly in virtual economy services, also known...
response. A different mechanism is responsible for desensitization to antibiotics, which is performed over a shorter time course than desensitization to other allergies. In this form of desensitization, the patient is slowly exposed to a level of antibiotic that produces low-grade anaphylaxis. At the end of the procedure, the patient's mast cells have depleted their granular contents, and the patient cannot undergo any allergic response until these cells restore these contents.
In pharmacology
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
, desensitization is the loss of responsiveness to the continuing or increasing dose of a drug. Also termed tachyphylaxis
Tachyphylaxis
Tachyphylaxis is a medical term describing a decrease in the response to a drug due to previous exposure to that drug. Increasing the dose of the drug may be able to restore the original response. In this context tachyphylaxis is a synonym for drug tolerance...
, downregulation
Downregulation and upregulation
Downregulation is the process by which a cell decreases the quantity of a cellular component, such as RNA or protein, in response to an external variable...
, fade or drug tolerance. This may be an important area to consider for the future design of safer drugs.
See also
- downregulationDownregulation and upregulationDownregulation is the process by which a cell decreases the quantity of a cellular component, such as RNA or protein, in response to an external variable...
- physiological tolerancePhysiological tolerancePhysiological tolerance or drug tolerance is commonly encountered in pharmacology, when a subject's reaction to a drug is reduced at a later time even though the dose or concentration at the effect site is the same. This means that larger doses are required to achieve the same effect...
- reverse toleranceReverse toleranceReverse tolerance or sensitization is the phenomenon of a reversal of the side-effects from a drug, or the reduction of insensitivity caused after drug tolerance has been established, or in some cases an additional increase of effects with continued use of a single drug existing alongside or not to...
- hyposensitizationHyposensitizationAllergen immunotherapy is a form of immunotherapy for allergic disorders in which the patient is vaccinated with increasingly larger doses of an allergen with the aim of inducing immunologic...