Immunosuppressive drug therapy: An overview

Immunosuppressive or immune suppressant drugs or anti-rejection drugs are employed to prevent different autoimmune diseases such as glomerulonephritis, myasthenia gravis, arthritis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease and in control of organ transplant rejections. Discovery of new immunosuppressive drugs in the past decade has beenphenomenal. Cyclosporine, Tacrolimus, Cyclophosphamide, Azathioprine, Mycophenolate mofetil, Sirolimus, Methotrexate, Glucocorticoids, Leflunomide etc are used either alone or in combination with each other for immunosuppressive activity in patients. These drugs produce their action by inhibition of the cytokines production, cytokines action, DNA synthesis or cell activation/maturation. These drugs are available in various dosage forms and dose of these drugs depend on various factors, however, the final dose of these drugs is decided by the physician. Side effects associated with these type of drugs are spreading of malignant tumor, decreased efficacy of immune system to resist infection, hypertension, dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, peptic ulcers, liver, kidney injury and interaction with other medicines with effect on their metabolism and action. The details of the different immunosuppressive drugs have been discussed in this overview.