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Exegeses and Views
Ribavirin in Cancer Immunotherapies Controlling Nitric Oxide Helps Generate Cytotoxic Lymphocyte
R.E. Kast
volume 1 | issue 6
november/december 2002Pages: 626-630
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Either ribavirin, RBV, or cyclophosphamide, CY, can shift an immune response from Th2 towards a Th1 cytokine profile. CY is used in this role in various current cancer immunotherapy attempts but with mixed success. More potent and reliable immunoadjuvants and Th 1 response biasing methods are needed. RBV is used today mainly to augment interferon-alpha treatment of hepatitis C. RBV shifts an immune response from Th2 towards Th1 more effectively than CY and may be a safe and useful adjuvant for current cancer immunotherapeutic efforts. RBV is thought to act by inhibition of tetrahydrobiopterin synthesis. Tetrahydrobiopterin is an essential co-factor for all known isoforms of nitric oxide synthase. Lowered nitric oxide favors Th1 development as high levels favor Th2 weighting.
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDFIf the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.