| Immunosuppression is the medical suppression of the immune system. This is usually done to prevent the body from rejecting an organ transplant.
When an organ is transplanted, the immune system of the
recipient will most likely recognize it as foreign tissue and attack it. The destruction of the organ will, if untreated, end in
the death of the recipient.
To prevent that, immunosuppressant drugs are used to inhibit the reaction of the immune system. The downside is that with such
a deactivated immune system, the body is very vulnerable to opportunistic infections, even those usually considered harmless. Also, prolonged use of
immunosuppressants increases the risk of cancer.
Immunosuppression is also used to counteract autoimmune
diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis or Crohn's disease, to prevent the immune system from attacking healthy parts
of the body.
Cortisone was the first immunosuppressant identified. The more effective
azathioprine was identified in 1959, but it was not until the discovery of
cyclosporine in 1970 that transplant surgery found a sufficiently powerful
immunosuppressive.
A list of immunosuppressant drugs is given on the transplant
rejection page.
A person who is undergoing immunosuppression, or whose immune system is weak for other reasons (e.g. chemotherapy and HIV) is
said to be immunocompromised.
See also:
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