Application considered for immunotoxin in treatment of graft-vs-host disease
Article Abstract:
Graft-vs-host disease sometimes develops after bone marrow transplant, because the donor's T cells, white blood cells that fight infection, behave as if the transplant recipient's tissue is a foreign substance, and try to destroy it. Part of the problem is that the recipient's own immune system is suppressed to avoid rejection of the transplant. As many as three fourths of the bone marrow transplants that involve inadequately matched donors and recipients will result in graft-vs-host disease. Treatment for this disease has included high doses of steroids, which produce significant side effects. A new method of averting graft-vs-host disease involves the use of monoclonal antibodies, which are substances genetically designed to act against only specific tissues or cells. A monoclonal antibody against a certain protein on the surface of T cells has been attached to a toxic substance known as ricin. Ricin will destroy a cell it has penetrated, and tying ricin to a monoclonal antibody specifically targeted against T cells ensures that it will only penetrate the donor's T cells, and destroy them before they can destroy the host tissues. Preliminary trials with this ricin-monoclonal antibody combination have shown dramatic improvements, including long-term remissions, in the graft-vs-host disease of a number of bone marrow transplant recipients. Certain autoimmune diseases, in which the patient's immune system reacts against the body's own tissues, may also be amenable to treatment with ricin-monoclonal antibody combinations. Monoclonal antibodies offer promise in the search to find selective methods of treating destructive immune processes, and are being investigated for their ability to treat certain types of cancer. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1991
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Does influx from endemic areas mean more transfusion-associated Chagas' disease?
Article Abstract:
Chagas' disease, a new threat to the safety of the US blood supply, has been identified. This parasitic disease native to Central and South America has reportedly been passed by blood transfusion to two people in the US. While blood donors may have no symptoms, the disease can be fatal, especially in recipients with compromised immune systems. The most vulnerable groups are cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients and those infected with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS). A study of immigrants from Nicaragua and El Salvador found the parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, in five percent of the participants. Researchers estimate that 20-25 percent of people who receive the infected blood will become infected themselves. Chagas' disease is frequently not diagnosed from its early, mild symptoms but can progress to a life-threatening myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle). Whether and how to screen blood donations presents a dilemma because no accurate laboratory test is available. False positive results could cause much safe blood to be discarded. Potential donors who have lived in the parasite's native areas could be turned away, but this would restrict the blood supply to a dangerously limited level and also stigmatize certain nationalities. One expert suggested screening blood to be given to immunocompromised recipients only, and only doing so in parts of the country where many donors are from Latin America. A blood bank in southern California reported that 40 percent of its donors come from Central and South America.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1989
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Key witness against morning sickness drug faces scientific fraud charges
Article Abstract:
William McBride is an Australian obstetrician who was instrumental in discovering the teratogenic effects of thalidomide. Now he is currently facing fraud charges for his assertion that another drug, bendectin, also causes birth defects. Formerly acclaimed as the 'Jonas Salk' of Australia, McBride resigned from his research post after accusations of scientific misconduct were made by his assistants. These charges were first made public in 1987 and have continued to escalate. Fifteen charges are currently pending against this doctor, who is accused of providing false testimony in a United States court and of fabricating data in published research. The manufacturer of the drug, Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has been the object of much litigation that has been supported, at least in part, by McBride's claims. Bendectin has been withdrawn from the market, but it is estimated that between 20 and 25 percent of pregnant women in the U.S. have used this drug, yet subsequent studies have not been able to support McBride's assertion that the drug causes birth defects. In particular, evidence from the Centers for Disease Control Birth Defects Monitoring Program indicate that bendectin does not cause birth defects. It appears that the damage that was done to the manufacturer was completely unwarranted. The overall effect has been to retard the progress of drug research by increasing litigation and making drug companies overly cautious. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1990
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Amplification dynamics: predicting the effect of HIV on tuberculosis outbreaks. RNAi: Towards in vivo therapy
- Abstracts: The medical outcomes study: an application of methods for monitoring the results of medical care. How many physicians is enough?
- Abstracts: Economic and policy implications of early intervention in HIV disease. How many physicians can we afford?
- Abstracts: Researchers amass abortion data. After two decades, Penn State researchers may be near perfecting replacement hearts and lungs