title: Immunomodulating agents.
abstract: Inflammation involves a universally recognized, although incompletely understood, cascade of molecular events orchestrated by lymphokines and other innate biochemicals of immunity. Repeated or extended contact with immunogenic agents results in adaptive immunity involving antigen-induced events that stimulate down-stream immune cells and result in expansion of the inflammatory cascade. When immunogenic stimulation persists or autoregulatory immune mechanisms go awry, however, adaptive immunologic events can result in immune-mediated processes detrimental to systemic or organ-specific homeostasis. Because of the complexities of immunologic events, the potential side effects of long-term corticosteroid therapy, and the focused spectrum of most conventional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents (centered on arachidonic acid-related mechanisms), a variety of other chemotherapeutic immunosuppressive agents have assumed an increasingly prominent therapeutic role in veterinary ophthalmology in the management of chronic ocular inflammatory diseases. In addition, nonimmunosuppressive immunomodulating agents (ie, immuno-stimulants or immunorestoratives) may be used as adjunctive therapies in the management of ocular or visual system diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, A383 Clydesdale Hall, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. moorec@missouri.edu
authors.forename: Cecil P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000287:Administration, Topical; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D007638:Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000662:veterinary; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions