Therapeutic use of glucocorticoids and immunosuppressive agents

Abstract

Pharmacotherapy of autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) is complex. Apart from the replacement hormone therapy, antithyroid agents, beta adrenoceptor blockers and other drugs, in regard to the present symptoms, it also includes the administration of glucocorticoids and immunosuppressive agents. Physiological actions of glucocorticoids are significant in number, well known and described in details. The most prominent pharmacological properties of glucocorticoids, that are important fortheir clinical use, are antiinflammatory and immunosuppressive actions. In this article, the most notable clinical pharmacology aspects of glucocorticoids have been presented, including the basic principles of their therapeutic use, as well as the most important indications with the examples of dosing regiments (rheumatic disorders, renal diseases, allergic reactions, bronchial asthma, gastrointestinal inflammatory diseases, thrombocytopenia, organ transplantation, and Graves' ophthalmopathy). In addition, adverse and toxic effects of glucocorticoids as well as their interactions with other drugs have been described. Immunosuppressive agents have important role in treatment of immune disorders, including the reduction of immune response in autoimmune diseases and organ transplantation. Apart from glucocorticoids, immunosuppressive agents consist of calcineurin inhibitors (cyclosporine, tacrolimus), antiproliferative and antimetabolic agents (sirolimus, azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, methotrexate, cyclophosphamide), monoclonal antibodies: anti-CD3 antibody (muromonab-CD3), anti-CD25 antibody (daclizumab), anti-TNF-alpha antibody (infliximab). In this part, the most updated facts about mechanism of action, rational therapeutic use, as well as adverse and toxic effects of immunosuppressive agents have been reviewed.