Chronic inflammation contributes to cancer development via multiple mechanisms. One potential mechanism is that chronic inflammation can generate an immunosuppressive microenvironment that allows advantages for tumor formation and progression. The immunosuppressive environment in certain chronic inflammatory diseases and solid cancers is characterized by accumulation of proinflammatory mediator...

Pharmacodynamic (PD) monitoring measures the biological response to a drug, which alone--or coupled with pharmacokinetics--provides a novel method for optimization of drug dosing. PD monitoring has been investigated by us and other investigators primarily for four immunosuppressive drugs: cyclosporine (CsA), azathioprine (AZA), mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), and rapamycin (RAPA). PD monitoring of...

Immunosuppressive therapy is the standard of care in aplastic anaemia in younger patients who do not have a matched sibling donor, and also in adults and older patients. Hence, a large population of patients with aplastic anaemia undergo this treatment. In patients who have responded to the first course of ATG, and have had a relapse, a second course of ATG can be administered with reasonable r...

The interplay between viruses and host immune responses is critical to determine either a successful infection or resolution. Mammalian cells have developed different mechanisms to recognize invading pathogens via their pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), which are often nucleic acid products (e.g., doublestranded RNAs or dsRNA) generated during viral genome replication [1]. To evad...

In 1960, the beneficial effect on allograft survival of 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) was demonstrated. In 1961, azathioprine, a less toxic derivative of 6-MP, was synthesized and soon became the main form of maintenance therapy. Around the same time, clinical studies of the effects of corticosteroids on the immune system were being conducted and successful reversal of rejection with cortisone was re...

Two new diterpenes, named sibiriquinone A (1) and B (2), along with four known diterpenes have been isolated from the aerial part of Veronicastrum sibiricum. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopy. The isolated compounds showed significant immunosuppressive activities.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the major infectious complication observed after organ transplantation. As rejection episodes always occur in allograft-transplanted recipients, various kinds of immunosuppressive agents are used to control such rejection episodes. Among the commonly used immunosuppressive agents, anti-pan-T cell polyclonal and monoclonal antibody are known to increase the ris...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) display immunomodulatory properties mediated by various factors, including inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Since heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a potent immunosuppressive enzyme, we tested the hypothesis that HO-1 could mediate the immunosuppressive effects of MSCs. We generated adult rat MSCs that inhibited T-cell proliferation in vitro. These MSCs expressed b...

In contrast to renal or pancreas transplantation graft failure after heart transplantation (HTx) is associated with the death of the patient if re-grafting or mechanical support (MCS) is not possible immediately. Since the beginning of modern transplantation medicine one of the highest priorities were preventing and treating graft rejection. Over the last decades experimental, animal and clinic...