Our Technology / Immunotherapy

The immune system comprises both specific and non-specific immune responses. Non-specific immunity acts as a barrier against a wide range of pathogens (germs) and also helps with the development and effectiveness of specific immune responses. Specific immunity recognises each new disease encountered and the immune system then “remembers” it, thereby being able to more quickly and more robustly protect the body in the future from that specific disease.

In the course of a normal immune response, parts of pathogens (e.g. bacteria) are recognized by the immune system as foreign (non-self), and eliminated or effectively neutralized to reduce their capacity to do damage. Such a recognizable substance is called an antigen. The immune system may respond in multiple ways to an antigen; a key feature of this response is the production of antibodies by plasma cells involving an arm of the immune system known as humoral immunity.

Humoral immunity is a complement to cellular immunity (involving T cells), whereby cells release toxins to kill unwanted invaders, or attack the invaders directly to kill them. Together, humoral and cellular immunity are designed to defend the body against a wide variety of threats which could compromise it.

Immunotherapy is defined as "treatment of disease by inducing, enhancing, or suppressing an immune response”. Immuron’s oral immunotherapy uses the inherent ability of the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract's immune system to control unwanted systemic immune responses, by inducing regulatory T cells in an antigen-specific manner. The gut mucosal immune system is the largest lymphoid organ in the body and differentiates antigenic signals against the high background “noise” of food and bacterial antigens. This does not involve general immune suppression and thus does not have serious side effects such as increased infection susceptibility.