Although first studied for their antimicrobial activity, host defense peptides (HDPs) are now widely recognized for their multifunctional roles in both the innate and adaptive immune responses. Their diverse immunomodulatory capabilities include the modulation of pro- and anti-inflammatory responses, chemoattraction, enhancement of extracellular and intracellular bacterial killing, cellular dif...

The immunomodulatory property of plants is being studied with greater interest in recent years. This is more so because of the growing awareness regarding the need to modulate the immune system to achieve the desirable effects of preventing an infection rather than treating it at an advanced state. The recent advances in this field are summarized in this article.

The use of cytokines for therapeutic purposes is limited by their high cost and toxicity. Nevertheless, the emergence of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB), for which chemotherapy is ineffective, has again made cytokine-based therapy attractive as one of the last available options. The results of clinical trials treating pulmonary tuberculosis with cytokines have not been encourag...

The efficacy of cyclosporine and related drugs in the treatment of psoriasis was the key to the development of the concept that psoriasis is an immune mediated disorder. These therapies demonstrably reduce the number of activated T-lymphocytes, which correlates with clinical remission. Monoclonal antibodies directed against key components of the inflammatory process have been studied in an atte...