Disease control immunology

Various drugs are capable of affecting specific immune reactions. They can both increase the general resistivity of the body or its nonspecific immunity, as well as suppress the body s immune reactions. Hence controlling diseases with immunological agents means either generation of the necessary immunity in the body, or suppression of undesirable immune reactions. 

The Immunology Branch, Division of Host Factors, Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia tDepartments of Medicine and Microbiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia and The Arthritis Foundation, Atlanta, Georgia... 

There is also heightened concern that a bioterrorist could release smallpox, a disease that has been eradicated from the globe since at least 1980. Officially, only two places on Earth still maintain viable smallpox virus in cold storage Novosibirsk, Russia and Atlanta, Georgia, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Some unconfirmed reports allege that other countries, however, including North Korea and perhaps others, still hold on to smallpox virus specimens. Could a terrorist release smallpox, and how would it affect a mostly immunologically naive population ... 

One was a known case of pre-existent multiple sclerosis but the other had no history of neurological diseases. Both had HLA haplotype DR2 and B7, which are associated with multiple sclerosis. A causal link between immunization and demyelination cannot be established from these two case reports, but the time interval would fit a proposed immunological mechanism. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, received reports on four cases of chronic demyelinating disease. Several other reports describe related conditions or other forms of neurological disorder. 

BIRT-377 (1), a small molecule inhibitor of lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1), was first discovered by Kelly and coworkers in 1999. It was shown to have potential therapeutic utility in the treatment of a variety of inflammatory and immune disorders. In binding to intercellular adhesion molecules, the cell-surface receptor LFA-1 allows many cell-cell adhesion events that control immunological functions. A lack of these synaptic functions leads to potentially life-threatening immunodeficiency diseases. In case of overactive immune responses, an LFA-1 inhibitor can be used to attenuate the inflammatory responses. These immunosuppressive activities have been tested in vitro, and early clinical trials on transplantation have already been undertaken. ... 

Modulation of hepatic apoptosis is desirable in disease control. Conversely, important mechanistic information can be derived from genetic, pharmacological, and immunologic intervention studies in disease models. 

There is the potential to develop a protective vaccine/immunization programme for each and every infectious disease. Whether or not such vaccines are developed and deployed is related to the severity and economic impact of the disease upon the eommunity as well as the effects upon the individual. Principles of immunity and of the produetion and quality control of immunological products are discussed in Chapters 14 and 15, respeetively. 

The importance of radiation therapy in the local control of primary or bulky cancers will even increase in the future if more effective chemotherapeutic or systemic therapy (such as immunology, gene therapy, etc.) becomes available to treat (prevent) metastatic disease. 

---