Avocado/soybean unsaponifiables in the treatment of scleroderma: Comment on the article by Maheu et al

✍ Scribed by Stefania Jablonska

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 134 KB
• Volume: 41
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-3591
• DOI: 10.1002/1529-0131(199809)41:9<1705::aid-art27>3.0.co;2-5

✦ Synopsis

type immunologic side effects. The intriguing observations by Davis et a1 that 2-CdA therapy does not down-regulate serum IgG titers and does not suppress type 2 cytokine expression, but rather increases interleukin-4 (IL-4) messenger RNA levels in PBMC from some SLE patients, suggest a possible pathophysiologic explanation for these side effects, given the role of type 2 cytokines in humoral immunity. In their discussion, Davis and colleagues soundly address the issue of whether survival of IL-4-expressing cells during 2-CdA therapy has clinical implications. The unexpected side effects reported here suggest that it might.