Immunopharmacologies immunosuppressive agents

This section provides a discussion of the pharmacology of the various agents that directly affect the immune system. It emphasizes their mechanism of action with a brief description of their therapeutic uses. More detailed information on their pharmacology can be found in Goodman and Gilman s The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics (Brunton et al, 2006). Immunopharmacologics can be divided into two major areas, the immunostimulants and the immunosuppressives. 

With the discovery and development of cyclosporine, a new era in immunopharmacology was born. Cyclosporine was the first agent to affect a specific cell line of the body s immune defenses. It is suppressive mainly to T cells, in condast to the cytotoxic agents, which affect all cell lines at the same time. Cyclosporine is the forerunner of a group of immunosuppressants that are acdve against specific components of the immune response. 

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