Immunosuppressive Therapy

IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE therapy has had a dramatic influence on the field of organ transplantation, and today, a dozen years after the discovery of the immunosuppressive properties of the antipurines, the transplantation of kidneys is an accepted and widely practiced form of treatment. By contrast, immunosuppressive agents have thus far failed to revolutionize the treatment of immunologic diseases. Drugs of this type are used in immunologic disorders with the expectation that they will inhibit the production of pathogenetic antibodies or suppress the inflammatory responses provoked by antigen–antibody reactions. But since the etiology and pathogenesis of most of these . . .