TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Immunomodulating Agents A1 - Ciccone, Charles D. PY - 2016 T2 - Pharmacology in Rehabilitation AB - The immune system is responsible for controlling the body's response to various types of injury and for defending the body from invading pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, and other parasites.1,2 The importance of this system in maintaining health is illustrated by the devastating effects that can occur in people who lack adequate immune function, such as patients with AIDS. The use of drugs to modify immune responses, or immunomodulating agents, is therefore an important area of pharmacology. For example, it may be helpful to augment immune function if a person's immune system is not functioning adequately. By contrast, it is sometimes necessary to suppress immune function pharmacologically to prevent immune-mediated injury to certain tissues or organs. Following organ transplants and tissue grafts, the immune system may cause the rejection of tissues transplanted from other donors (allografts) or from other sites in the patient's body (autografts).3,4 Likewise, immunosuppression may be helpful when the immune system causes damage to the body's tissues. Such conditions are often referred to as autoimmune diseases. Clinical disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are now recognized as having an autoimmune basis.5,6 SN - PB - F. A. Davis Company CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/28 UR - fadavispt.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1180857587 ER -