The Pharmacology of Lymphocytes

Immunopharmacology , why not pharmacoimmunology? Professor H. O. Schild University College London, 1962 An intact immune response is essential for survival, as is evidenced by the various innate immune deficiency syndromes and by the emergence of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) as a pandemic during the last decade. Substances which stimulate the immune response might contribute to the therapy of AIDS and its precursor, AIDS-related syndrome, as well as of other clinical conditions in which immune responses can be diminished, such as carcinoma and infections. In other circumstances, an intact or heightened immune response may pose clinical problems; hence there is need to suppress, or diminish, components of the immune response. For instance, it is necessary to impair cellular immunity in order to ensure lasting acceptance of heterografts and it is already established that agents effective in transplantation are therapeutically effective in an range of autoimmune diseases. More recently, experimental studies have indicated that aberrant manifestations of humoral immunity, as in allergies, may also be amenable to pharmacological intervention.