Destruction of T or B lymphocytes that would otherwise be activated by contact with “self-antigens. AICD maintains immunologic tolerance; it is enhanced by interleukin-2 (IL-2) and inhibited by interleukin-15 (IL-15).
Help that enables an individual who wants to die to do so. This may take the form of counseling or actually providing the means and instruments for allowing the person to commit suicide. The legal and moral questions concerning such acts, especially if the assisting person is a health care professional, are topics of active debate.