Short story of antirheumatic therapy.VIII. The immunodepressants

Submitted: 14 November 2011
Accepted: 25 December 2011
Published: 19 March 2012
Abstract Views: 1333
PDF: 1449
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

The use of immunosuppressive drugs in rheumatology is fairly recent, starting just after the Second World War with the introduction of the first alkylating agents in oncohematology. When it became clear that some rheumatic diseases, particularly rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, showed an immune-mediated pathogenesis, including proliferation of immunocompetent cells, an application was soon found for immunosuppressive drugs in their treatment. This review outlines the historical milestones that led to the current use of drugs belonging to the major groups of immunosuppressants, i.e. alkylating agents (cyclophosphamide), folic acid (methotrexate) and purine (azathioprine) antagonists. We will also talk about the history of cyclosporin A, the first “selective” immunosuppressive agent, and that of some immunoactive drugs used more recently in rheumatology, such as mycophenolate mofetil, dapson and thalidomide.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

How to Cite

Pasero, G., & Marson, P. (2012). Short story of antirheumatic therapy.VIII. The immunodepressants. Reumatismo, 64(1), 44–54. https://doi.org/10.4081/reumatismo.2012.44