title: Immunomodulatory therapies for acute pancreatitis.
abstract: It is currently difficult for conventional treatments of acute pancreatitis (AP), which primarily consist of anti-inflammatory therapies, to prevent the progression of AP or to improve its outcome. This may be because the occurrence and progression of AP, which involves various inflammatory cells and cytokines, includes a series of complex immune events. Considering the complex immune system alterations during the course of AP, it is necessary to monitor the indicators related to immune cells and inflammatory mediators and to develop more individualized interventions for AP patients using immunomodulatory therapy. This review discusses the recent advances in immunomodulatory therapies. It has been suggested that overactive inflammatory responses should be inhibited and excessive immunosuppression should be avoided in the early stages of AP. The optimal duration of anti-inflammatory therapy may be shorter than previously expected (< 24 h), and appropriate immunostimulatory therapies should be administered during the period from the 3(rd) d to the 14(th) d in the course of AP. A combination therapy of anti-inflammatory and immune-stimulating drugs would hopefully constitute an alternative to anti-inflammatory drug monotherapy. Additionally, the detection of the genotypes of critical inflammatory mediators may be useful for screening populations of AP patients at high risk of severe infections to enable the administration of early interventions to improve their prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Jing Li, Lu-Ming Huang, Cheng-Wei Tang, Department of Gastroenterology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Jing Li, Lu-Ming Huang, Cheng-Wei Tang, Department of Gastroenterology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Juan
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Jing Li, Lu-Ming Huang, Cheng-Wei Tang, Department of Gastroenterology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Lu-Ming
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Jing Li, Lu-Ming Huang, Cheng-Wei Tang, Department of Gastroenterology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Cheng-Wei
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000378:metabolism; D010179:Pancreas / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D016207:Cytokines; D007155:Immunologic Factors; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D018836:Inflammation Mediators
keywords: Immunomodulatory therapy; Immunostimulation; Immunosuppression; Pancreatitis; Systemic inflammatory response syndrome