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[Anti-idiotype antibodies]
1Service de néphrologie et unité INSERM U 28, hôpital Broussais, Paris.
The discovery of idiotypes by Oudin and Kunkel, followed by the idiotype network theory by Jerne have opened a new field of investigation of the humoral immune response and of its regulation. The presence of anti-idiotypes behaving like "internal images" and the ability of anti-idiotypes to modulate the immune response in animals lead the way to new therapeutic regimens in very various fields such as auto-immune diseases or vaccinations. However, many theoretical as well as practical problems need to be solved before the actual use of such reagents in clinical medicine.
The discovery of idiotypes by Oudin and Kunkel, followed by the idiotype network theory by Jerne have opened a new field of investigation of the humoral immune response and of its regulation. The presence of anti-idiotypes behaving like "internal images" and the ability of anti-idiotypes to modulate the immune response in animals lead the way to new therapeutic regimens in very various fields such as auto-immune diseases or vaccinations. However, many theoretical as well as practical problems need to be solved before the actual use of such reagents in clinical medicine.