[Cyclosporin and autoimmune diseases. 1: Experimental bases]

Cyclosporine is an 11 aminoacid cyclic peptide of fungal origin endowed with potent immunosuppressive activity. Unlike the conventional immunosuppressants, cyclosporine does not interfere with DNA metabolism, but it selectively and reversibly inhibits lymphocyte T-helper activation by inhibiting the production of interleukin-2 which plays a role in immune response development. Cyclosporine has little effect on lymphocytes B and does not modify the production of antibodies when it is in progress. The drug is effective in preventing spontaneous or autoantigen-induced auto-immune diseases in animals. The best studied models are experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, uveitis in the rat and spontaneous diabetes of BB rats. However, cyclosporine has no effect on diseases exclusively due to the pathogenic action of antibodies, such as spontaneous thyroiditis of the obese chicken. It is also possible to obtain a curative effect, this type of model being nearer to therapeutic conditions in humans than the previous models.