- Immunosuppressive drugs - action
- Immunosuppressants - types
- Immunosuppressants after transplant
- Immunosuppressants in autoimmune diseases
- Immunosuppressants - side effects
Help the development of the site, sharing the article with friends!
Immunosuppressants are drugs that lower the body's resistance (immunosuppression). Pharmacological immunosuppressive treatment is used after transplantation to prevent transplant rejection, as well as in the treatment of allergic and autoimmune diseases. How exactly do immunosuppressants work? What are the side effects of their use?
Contents:
- Immunosuppressive drugs - action
- Immunosuppressants - types
- Immunosuppressants after transplant
- Immunosuppressants in autoimmune diseases
Immunosuppressive drugsare drugs that lead to a temporary or permanent decrease in the body's immunity - in medical terminology it is called immunosuppression. Immunosuppressants are one of the methods of lowering the body's immunity.
Other methods of immunosuppression are surgery (excision of organs of the immune system, e.g. the thymus gland) and methods using physical means, e.g. X-rays.
In turn, immunosuppression is one of the methods of modulating the immune system, which is carried out for prophylactic and therapeutic purposes (immunotherapy or specific immunotherapy). In immunotherapy, apart from immunosuppression, there are also immunostimulation (stimulation of the immune system) and immunoreconstruction (restoration of the immune system).
Immunosuppressive drugs - action
Immunosuppressants lead to the weakening or suppression of the immune system response (in medical terminology, this condition is called immunosuppression) by inhibiting the production and maturation of immune cells.
The degree of severity of immunosuppression and its duration depend on:
- individual sensitivity
- immune maturity
- type and amount of antigen
- doses and frequency of immunosuppressive medications
- type of immune response
Immunosuppressants - types
There are the following groups of immunosuppressive drugs:
- glucocorticosteroids
- cytostatic drugs
- monoclonal antibodies
- drugs acting on immunophilins: cyclosporine, tacrolimus, sirolimus (rapamycin), everolimus
- unclassified drugs:interferons, TNF (tumor necrosis factor) binding protein and mycophenolic acid
Immunosuppressants after transplant
After transplantation, there is a risk that the immune system will treat the transplanted organ as a foreign body and try to reject it (graft versus host). To prevent this, it is necessary to suppress the immune system. This is most often done with the help of immunosuppressants.
Usually, several drugs are used simultaneously in specific regimens, depending on the transplanted organ, the degree of immune risk, the severity of metabolic disorders, the presence of comorbidities and the function of the transplant. Doses of immunosuppressants necessary to maintain the function of the transplant are reduced within the first few months after surgery. However, a minimum amount of these drugs is always needed, even many years after transplantation. The use of immunosuppression is necessary from the moment of transplantation of the organ until its function ceases.
Immunosuppressants in autoimmune diseases
Autoimmune diseases, also known as autoimmune diseases, are diseases in the course of which the immune system mistakenly recognizes parts of its own body as an enemy and begins to attack them. The consequence is permanent damage.
Immunosuppressants inhibit the immune system's inappropriate response against its own tissues.
Immunosuppressive drugs are used, inter alia, in in the course of:
- rheumatoid arthritis
- systemic lupus erythematosus
- pemphigus
- ulcerative colitis
- Crohn's disease
Immunosuppressants - side effects
In addition to the desired therapeutic effect, the use of immunosuppressants may be associated with numerous side effects.
1) Susceptibility to infections
The most dangerous are chronic viral infections that cause damage to organs, such as chronic hepatitis or chronic skin lesions associated with the human papillomavirus.
Chronic infection in immunosuppressed patients is caused by viruses that asymptomatically infect the majority of the population. But in immunocompromised patients, this virus usually activates, multiplies and causes damage.
The organism of the recipient of the transplant does not fight the viral infection effectively and in most of them spontaneous elimination of the virus is not observed.
2) Tumors
Neoplasms that develop most often are associated with viral infections, so:
- skin cancer
- cervical cancer
- bladder cancer
- lymphomas (some of them are related to the Epstein-Barr virus)
- kidney cancer
- liver cancer (related to chronic hepatitis caused by B or C viruses)
3) Hypertension, ulcers
With age, metabolic, bone and cardiovascular complications develop in a patient taking immunosuppressive drugs. Most of the drugs taken for years are conducive to the development of hyperlipidemia, diabetes, arterial hypertension, and thus atherosclerosis.
It is also more and more common that patients die with an active transplant due to other, mainly cardiovascular, reasons.
Immunosuppressants, apart from hypertension, dyslipidemia, and hyperglycemia, cause gastric ulceration and damage to the liver and kidneys, often of high intensity.
About the author
Monika Majewska A journalist specializing in he alth issues, especially in the areas of medicine, he alth protection and he althy eating. Author of news, guides, interviews with experts and reports. Participant of the largest Polish National Medical Conference "Polish woman in Europe", organized by the "Journalists for He alth" Association, as well as specialist workshops and seminars for journalists organized by the Association.
Read more articles by this author