感染とTh1-Th2バランス : その制御による難治性感染症へのアプローチ

概要

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In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of patients with compromised immune systems. This is due to the rise in the number of aging people, patients receiving immunosuppressive agents after organ transplantation, patients with hematological malignancies and patients with AIDS. These individuals frequently fall into Th1-Th2 cytokine imbalance due to a shift towards Th2-dominant conditions. Such pathological condition puts them at a high risk for developing infectious diseases caused by a variety of microbial pathogens, which are often refractory to the conventional chemotherapy. Artificial control of the Th1-Th2 balance is therefore expected to be a promising method of immunotherapy against these intractable infectious diseases. In a series of investigations, we demonstrated the effectiveness of Th1-associated cytokines, such as IFN-γ, IL-12 and IL-18, in protecting animals against experimental infectious diseases caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Cryptococcus neoformans. Recently, several investigators have reported the successful clinical treatment of mycobacterial infection with either IFN-γ or IL-12. Scientific evaluation is needed to clinically prove the effectiveness of these novel immunotherapies.総説Review Article
東北大学の論文