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Immunology => Immune System => Cyclosporin
Cyclosporin
Cyclosporin, drug capable of suppressing the action of the body's immune system in rejecting foreign tissues following organ transplant operations. Cyclosporin occurs naturally in a Norwegian fungus, Tolypocladium inflatum. Its medical effects were first observed in 1972. Specifically, it blocks the replication of lymphocytes in the immune system, and production of T-cell growth factor (interleukin 2), which stimulate T-lymphocytes as part of the immune response and would otherwise tend to attack the tissues of the transplanted organs. Operations of this nature have proved successful in most cases when using cyclosporin. There is some risk of potentially severe kidney damage, however, so care must be taken in administering the drug.
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