The gels of Aloe species contain immunomodulatory components such as aloctin A and acemannan. Most studies on these gels were performed in in vitro cell culture systems. Although several studies examined their immunomodulatory activity in vivo, the route of administration was intraperitoneal or intramuscular. Here, we evaluated the in vivo immunomodulatory activity of processed Aloe vera gel (P...

Immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) present one example of immunomodulatory agents that improve cancer immunotherapy. Based on the cytotoxic activity of natural killer (NK) cells against cancer cells, a high throughput screening method for the identification of novel immunomodulatory molecules with the potential to stimulate NK cell cytotoxicity against cancer cells was designed and tested using an ...

Epithelial and mesenchymal cells isolated from the amniotic membrane (AM) possess stem cell characteristics, differentiation potential toward lineages of different germ layers, and immunomodulatory properties. While their expansion and differentiation potential have been well studied and characterized, knowledge about their immunomodulatory properties and the mechanisms involved is still incomp...

Immunomodulatory antibodies that enhance the immune system to fight cancer are revolutionizing the treatment of patients with an expanding variety of malignancies. There is a unique spectrum of side effects associated with immunomodulatory antibodies, termed immune-related adverse events (irAEs), which include colitis and hepatitis among others. The treatment of refractory or severe irAEs can o...

It is well known that radiotherapy, as mainly locoregional treatment, has systemic eff ects as well. The term abscopal eff ect (latin: ab – away from; scopus – target) has been used to describe the regression of distant tumor metastases after completion of primary tumor radiation therapy. It has been shown that radiotherapy can initiate systemic antitumor immunologic response which includes the...

In this issue of Blood, Hsu and colleagues report that the immunostimulatory effect of lenalidomide on natural killer (NK)–cell function is profoundly suppressed by concurrent dexamethasone (Dex) therapy in multiple myeloma (MM) patients. These results could have major implications for the design of clinical trials combining lenalidomide and immunotherapies with the intent to stimulate the anti...

There is growing evidence that certain antibiotics exert their beneficial effects not only by killing or inhibiting the growth of bacterial pathogens but also indirectly by immunomodulation. This review aims at giving an overview of the immunomodulatory properties of antibiotics in different diseases: The antiinflammatory properties of macrolides in chronic inflammatory pulmonary disorders were...

n engl j med 357;21 www.nejm.org november 22, 2007 2186 phatases that are haplodeficient in the del(5q) clone.7 The key role of phosphatases in the regulation of ligand–receptor signaling might explain the broad range and lineage dependency of the biologic effects of immunomodulatory drugs. Lenalidomide and the immunomodulatory drugs stand as prime examples of potentially dangerous chemical com...

Objective: Homalium letestui Pellegr (Flacourtiaceae) is used in traditional medicine in parts of Nigeria for the treatment of malaria, ulcer, and inflammatory diseases and as an aphrodisiac. This investigation was aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic, immunomodulatory, and antileishmanial properties of stem extract and fractions of Homalium letestui (H. letestui). Materials and Methods: Cytotoxic a...