Abstract
The widespread application of the immunosuppressive agent cyclosporine (CsA) has been of tremendous benefit in clinical transplantation of various organs including heart, heart and lung, lung, liver, pancreas and kidney. The clinical success of immunosuppressive therapy with CsA holds the promise of advances in other new immunosuppressive compounds. Indeed, several new drugs have been discovered during the last decade. Among them, FK506 and deoxyspergualin (DSG), developed in Japan, have attracted interest for experimental study and for clinical application. FK506, extracted from Streptomyces tsukubaensis, is a macrolide antibiotic and is at least 100 times more potent than CsA in inhibiting T lymphocyte-mediated immunity in culture. 1,2 Like CsA, FK506 inhibits IL-2 (interleukin-2) production by T lymphocytes. 3 By a mechanism different from CsA and FK506, DSG, a metabolite of Bacillus laterosporus, does not interfere with IL-2 production, but prevents the generation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes. 4–6
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