title: Evolving trends in induction therapy.
abstract: A decade of spectacular innovation in maintenance immunosuppressive drugs has resulted in dramatic reductions in acute rejection and improvement in short- and long-term outcomes after renal transplantation. However, the new drugs continue to lack specificity, many require frequent therapeutic drug monitoring, and all of them are associated with acute and chronic toxicities. The new biologic agents, monoclonal antibodies, and receptor-fusion proteins lack immunogenicity, have long half-life and prolonged biologic effects, require intermittent administration, and have minimal toxicity. The specificity and selectively of the targets of the new biologic agents render them less toxic than the oral maintenance drugs and thus could possibly replace those drugs most frequently associated with long-term toxicity such as the corticosteroids and the calcineurin inhibitors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology and Renal Transplantation, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain 08036. marias@clinic.ub.es
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arias
authors.forename: Josep M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Campistol
authors.forename: Flavio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vincenti
mesh_terms: D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy / Q000639:trends*; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000639:trends*
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents