ABSTRACT
Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and their derivatives are useful in therapeutic applications and as probes of the pathogenesis of acute and chronic inflammatory disorders. mAbs have been evaluated for treatment of a number of inflammatory disorders including sepsis/ systemic inflammatory response syndrome, Rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Crohn’s disease, acute transplant rejection, graft versus host disease, vascular ischemia and other disorders. The chapter provides a brief overview of each of the mAbs of interest and the latter section is divided into separate inflammatory disorders with more detailed descriptions of mAb therapies. Tumor necrosis factor has been implicated as a primary proinflammatory mediator involved in the pathogenesis of a variety of acute and chronic inflammatory disorders. Anti-platelet therapy is effective in preventing acute thromboembolic artery occlusion by inhibiting platelet activation. Combinations of mAbs have been evaluated in animal and human studies of acute and chronic inflammatory diseases.
