Effects of immunomodulators on the four types of hypersensitivity

Abstract

In the textbooks of immunology, immune reactions were described in 5 types of allergic or hypersensitivity reaction, i.e. I (anaphylactic), II (antibody-dependent cytotoxic), III (complexmediated), IV (cell-mediated or delayed), and V (stimulatory) . Antigen and antibody involved, reaction time, histopathological characteristics, clinicl test, disease examples are also weiten in each type respectively.Immunopharmacology is a newly developed science and progressed rapidly as immunology did. Many investigators are analyzing effects of the drugs on each immune responsive cell. Immunomodulators are understood to possess suppressive effect on hyperimmunity state, augmentative effect on hypoimmunity state, and no effect on normal immune state. Thymostimulin (TP-1), and thymopoietin (TP-5), as thymic hormones; levamisole (LMS), D-penicillamine (D-Pc), mercapto-methylpropanoyl cystein (SA-96), gold salt thiomalate (GST), and auranofin, as SH compounds; carboxyphenyl chloroanthranilic acid (CCA), traxanox, and methyocobalamin (CH3B12), as others; were discussed in this report immunopharmacologically. No paper had described relationship between immunomodulators and 5 types of hypersensitivity reaction. The drugs had suppressive or augmentative or no effect on the 4 types (I, II, III, IV) of hypersensitivity. The effects might not be the yield of single immune responsive cell but the result of the reactions of several immune responsive cells in the respective types of reaction.Analysis of effects of the immunomodulators on the different types of hypersensitivity reaction possibly elucidate the mechanism of the drugs and diseases to be applied.