Anticytokine therapy, especially anti-interferon-gamma, as a pathogenetic treatment in TH-1 autoimmune diseases.
We pioneered anticytokine therapy (ACT) in 1974 and 1989, proposing to remove interferon (IFN) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha together with IFNs to treat various autoimmune diseases, including AIDS. This hypothesis was confirmed in different laboratories and opened a new line to produce and test different anticytokines. We have had good, sometimes striking results treating various Th1-mediated autoimmune diseases, including inflammatory skin diseases, using anti-IFN-gamma and sometimes anti-TNF-alpha. Anti-IFN-gamma may be a universal treatment for these conditions. Because TNF-alpha inhibitors, now successfully used in certain autoimmune disorders, have many severe side effects, there are opportunities for the development of other ACT and TNF-alpha antagonists with fewer side effects.
Skurkovich
Simon
S
Advanced Biotherapy Inc., 802 Rollins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852, USA. sskurkovich@erols.com
Skurkovich
Boris
B
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000188:drug therapy; D016207:Cytokines / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D006558:Herpes Genitalis / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000502:physiology; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors
D016207:Cytokines; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D007371:Interferon-gamma