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The mechanisms of absence of immune response may vary and involve complex immunological interactions, but can include absent or insufficient co-stimulatory signals from antigen-presenting cells. Haptens have been used to study allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) and the mechanisms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to induce autoimmune-like ...
Biological response modifiers (BRMs) are substances that modify immune responses. They can be endogenous (produced naturally within the body) or exogenous (as pharmaceutical drugs ), and they can either enhance an immune response or suppress it .
They act by inhibiting gene expression of cytokines including Interleukin 1 (IL-1), IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha by binding to corticosteroid response elements on DNA. [1] This decrease in cytokine production reduces T cell proliferation. With decreased T cell proliferation there is decreased production of IL-2.
The hapten model proposes that certain drugs, especially penicillin and cephalosporins, will bind to certain proteins on the red cell membrane and act as haptens (small molecules that can elicit an immune response only when attached to a large carrier such as a protein; the carrier may be one that also does not elicit an immune response by ...
However, he later modified the theory in order to explain immune reactions and the selectivity of the immune response. [6] Thinking that selectivity was derived from interaction with the tissues themselves, Ehrlich envisaged molecules extending from cells that the body could use to distinguish and mount an immune response to foreign objects.
The use of multiple drugs that act on different viral targets is known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). HAART decreases the patient's total burden of HIV, maintains function of the immune system , and prevents opportunistic infections that often lead to death. [ 2 ]
Immunosuppressive drugs have the potential to cause immunodeficiency, which can increase susceptibility to opportunistic infection and decrease cancer immunosurveillance. [9] Immunosuppressants may be prescribed when a normal immune response is undesirable, such as in autoimmune diseases. [10]
There are two main categories of immunostimulants: [1] Specific immunostimulants provide antigenic specificity in immune response, such as vaccines or any antigen.; Non-specific immunostimulants act irrespective of antigenic specificity to augment immune response of other antigen or stimulate components of the immune system without antigenic specificity, such as adjuvants and non-specific ...