Everyone Healthy medication library
Immunomodulator Drug Class
Medicines in this drug class are grouped together in the Everyone Healthy medication database. This page is educational only and should not be used as personal prescribing advice.
Drug class overview
Immunomodulator overview
Immunomodulator
An immunomodulator is a substance (e. g. a drug) which has an effect on the immune system. There are two types of effects - immunostimulation and immunosuppression.
- Immunosuppressants primarily have the suppressant effect.
- Immunostimulants primarily have the stimulant effect.
Most drugs however do not have effects on only one receptor, so an immunomodulator may be at the same time an immunosuppressant and an immunostimulant, on different targets within the immune system.
Products that are not single chemical entities, such as herbal extracts and impure products, may have even greater plurality of effect. Many species of plants, depending on the specific extraction conditions used, have immunomodulatory effects.[1]
References
- ^ Spelman K, Burns J, Nichols D, Winters N, Ottersberg S, Tenborg M (June 2006). "Modulation of cytokine expression by traditional medicines: a review of herbal immunomodulators". Alternative Medicine Review 11 (2): 128–50. PMID 16813462. http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/.fulltext/11/2/128.pdf.
External links
Linked medicines