title: Intravenous immunoglobulin and fibrosis.
abstract: Fibrosis is a pathological process that includes scar formation and overproduction of extracellular matrix by the connective tissue as a response to tissue damage. Pathologies include pathological scarring as colloid and hypertrophic scars in the skin, cirrhosis of liver and gallbladder, pulmonary and bone-marrow fibrosis, and scleroderma. The molecular process is not different from normal formation of connective tissue and extracellular matrix in the normal organs. Major profibrotic agents are type 2 CD4-positive lymphocytes, CD40 receptor and ligand interaction, and the cytokines interleukin-4, transforming growth factor-beta, and platelet-derived growth factor. The major antifibrotic agent is interferon-gamma. Fibrosis was considered an irreversible process, at least clinically, and is still usually treated by anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive agents. No proven antifibrotic therapy has shown efficacy in ameliorating clinical fibrosis. Intravenous immunoglobulin has a very good safety profile, and was found to be an ameliorating agent for several fibrotic diseases, and hence could be a drug of choice to these patients and improve their quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine B and The Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.
authors.forename: Vered
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Molina
authors.forename: Miri
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blank
authors.forename: Yehuda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shoenfeld
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005355:Fibrosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D016756:Immunoglobulins, Intravenous / Q000276:immunology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051379:Mice
chemical_list: D016756:Immunoglobulins, Intravenous