Will tolerance become a clinical reality?
The goal of transplant physicians is to create a state of antigen-specific tolerance in the recipient, whereby the graft is not rejected and the patient will not need a lifetime of medical therapy. Although the immunosuppressive medications used are effective in lowering the incidence of rejection, they produce significant side effects and do not induce a state of transplantation tolerance. Progress toward inducing transplantation tolerance has been made in animal models, primarily by the exploitation of the natural mechanisms that vertebrates have to maintain self-tolerance. These same strategies are being employed in clinical trials and consequently are promising and challenging for the future.
Aradhye
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Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104-6100, USA.
Turka
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LA
D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000276:immunology; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000276:immunology; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000276:immunology*; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007519:Isoantigens / Q000276:immunology; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000276:immunology; D014181:Transplantation Immunology / Q000276:immunology*
D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D016207:Cytokines; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D007519:Isoantigens