Open AccessImmunosuppressive Therapy in the Treatment of Immune‐mediated Disease
Author(s) -
Miller Ellen
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of veterinary internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.356
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1939-1676
pISSN - 0891-6640
DOI - 10.1111/j.1939-1676.1992.tb00340.x
Subject(s) - immune system , medicine , immunosuppression , immunology , disease , autoimmune disease , adverse effect , pathophysiology , antibody
Immune‐mediated diseases represent some of the most frustrating types of disorders that are diagnosed and treated in veterinary medicine. Drug‐induced immunosuppression is an attempt to control the aberrant immune response against self antigens but the immunosuppression can result in sepsis or other unacceptable adverse effects. If the pathophysiology of immune‐mediated and autoimmune disease is considered, the immune response can be divided into several components and attempts can be made to selectively deal with each component separately. The components of the immune response that can be manipulated by therapy include antibodies, effector cells, the mononuclear phagocytic system, and the peripheral manifestations of disease. This article reviews the therapy of immune‐mediated and autoimmune diseases based on a pathophysiologic approach and discusses conventional as well as current therapies in the treatment of these devastating diseases. (Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 1992; 6:206–213)