Immunosuppressive agents are drugs that suppress the immune system and reduce the risk of rejection of foreign bodies such as transplant organs. Different classes of immunosuppressive agents have different mechanism of action. Now immunosuppressive agents are used as cancer chemotherapy, in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and to treat severe allergy. As immunosuppressive agents lower the immunity there is increased risk of infection. Immunosuppressants can be divided into classes including calcineurin inhibitors, interleukin inhibitors, selective immunosuppressants and TNF alfa inhibitors. Immunosuppressants that do not fit into these classes are categorized as other immunosuppressants.
Types of immunosuppressants include: Biologics, like adalimumab (Humira®) and infliximab (Remicade®). Biologics are lab-made drugs that reduce your immune system’s response to intruders. Calcineurin inhibitors, like tacrolimus (Envarsus XR® or Protopic®) and cyclosporine (Gengraf®, Neoral® or Sandimmune®).
Immunosuppressant drugs are designed to suppress or tamp down part of the immune system. Many were originally developed to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients, but some are now also used to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis and lupus.
