International immunopharmacology
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Int. Immunopharmacol. · Jun 2006
Bacterial superantigen TSST-1 attenuates suppressive efficacy of glucocorticoids and calcineurin inhibitors against blastogenesis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis and nephrosis.
Successful immunosuppressive therapy is critical for the treatment of patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis and nephrosis. However, a considerable number of patients have shown clinical resistance to therapy. Bacterial infection might influence the clinical response of patients to immunosuppressive drugs, but few studies have been carried out to investigate the effect of bacterial superantigens on the efficacy of the drugs in these patients. ⋯ Whereas, the IC50 values for these immunosuppressive drugs, except methylprednisolone, were not significantly different between con A- and TSST-1-stimulated PBMCs in healthy subjects. The stimulation index was not significantly different between the con A- and TSST-1-stimulated PBMCs in either of the subject groups. These observations raise the possibility that TSST-1 induced by S. aureus infection attenuates the clinical efficacy of glucocorticoids and calcineurin inhibitors in ANCA patients and nephrosis patients.