Leflunomide: Traditional immunosuppressant with concurrent antiviral effects |
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| Authors: | Kunyu Zheng Yiran Chen Suying Liu Chengmei He Yunjiao Yang Di Wu Li Wang Mengtao Li Xiaofeng Zeng Fengchun Zhang |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College;2. National Clinical Research Center for Dermatologic and Immunologic Diseases (NCRC-DID), Ministry of Science & Technology;3. State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Key Laboratory of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Ministry of Education, Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), Beijing, China |
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| Abstract: | Leflunomide is a classic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug that is widely used to treat autoimmune diseases. Studies also show its antiviral effects in in vitro and/or in vivo experiments. Considering glucocorticoids, immunosuppressants and newly emerged antibodies commonly used in autoimmune diseases and autoinflammatory disorders bring risk of infection such as viral infection, leflunomide with combination of anti-viral and immunosuppressive features to maintain the balance between infection and anti-inflammation are attractive. Here we summarize the actions and mechanisms of leflunomide in immunoregulatory and antiviral effects. |
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| Keywords: | anti-viral effect autoinflammation immunosuppressant leflunomide |
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