Clinical use of immunosuppressive drugs: part I

While immunosuppressive drugs are principally used in the treatment of malignant disease, their use in non-malignant disease and transplantation has become commonplace. The mechanisms of action of immunosuppressive agents differ. Alkylating agents react with nucleophilic centres of D, and rna. Folic acid antagonists prevnt the conversion of dihydrofolic acid to tetrahydrofolic acid. Antibiotics act in a variety of different ways; the alkaloids cause metaphase arrest. Cytarabine (cytosine arabinoside), methotrexate, hydroxyurea and thioguanine act during mitosis and the latter also acts during replication is not known...