Immunoregulatory genes and immunosuppression by glucocorticoids

Abstract

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are physiological inhibitors of inflammatory responses and are widely used as immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory agents. GCs induce (i) lymphocyte apoptosis (Cohen, 1989, Galili, 1983) and (ii) inhibit synthesis of lymphokines (Arya et al., 1984, Culpepper and Lee, 1985, Knudsen et al., 1987, Wang et al., 1993, Zanker et al., 1990) and cell surface molecules (Von Knebel et al., 1990) required for immune function. In spite of the widespread use of GCs, the molecular mechanisms that underlie their therapeutic effects are poorly understood.