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Desensitisation

(Science: immunology) a therapeutic regimen that involves the administration of small quantities of a substance that a patient has an allergic response to, for the purpose of diminishing or eradicating the allergic response.

The term is used to mean the administration of a graded series of doses of an antigen to which there is an immediate hypersensitivity response. The technique is used in the treatment of allergy and works by inducing the production of blocking antibody (IgG) that inhibits ige production or blocks ige binding.

Synonym: hyposensitisation, immunotherapy.