A prospective non-randomized study was undertaken to test whether immunosuppression improves implantation and pregnancy rates in an in-vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) programme in patients with tubal factor infertility. Treatment involved ovarian stimulation, transvaginal oocyte retrieval, IVF-ET, and assessment of short-term administration of large doses of corticosteroids (60 mg ...

Coronary artery disease (CAD) has been shown in previous uncontrolled studies to be a limiting factor to long-term survival in patients undergoing cardiac transplantation and who were taking conventional immunosuppressive agents. To study the development of CAD after cardiac transplantation in patients taking the newer immunosuppressive agent cyclosporine, we prospectively performed yearly coro...

Therapeutic vaccination is a potentially powerful strategy to establish immune control and eradicate persistent viral infections. Large and multifunctional antiviral T cell responses are associated with control of viral persistence; however, for reasons that were mostly unclear, current therapeutic vaccination approaches to restore T cell immunity and control viral infection have been ineffecti...

The antiproteinuric effect of cyclosporine A(CsA) has been believed to result from its immunosuppressive effect on the transcription factor NFAT in T cells. However, current evidences supporting this hypothesis are missing. A recent study showed that CsA has a direct antiproteinuric effect on podocytes, suggesting a novel non-immunosuppressive mechanism for CsA's antiproteinuric effect. Conditi...

Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 is a major pluripotential cytokine with a pronounced immunosuppressive effect and its deficiency results in lethal autoimmunity in mice. However, mechanisms of its immunosuppressive action are not completely understood. Here, we report that TGF-beta1 supports the maintenance of Foxp3 expression, regulatory function, and homeostasis in peripheral CD4(+)CD25...