Immunopharmacology 2018

Immunopharmacology

Immunopharmacology is a branch of pharmacology concerned with the application of immunological techniques and theory to the study of the effects of drugs especially on the immune system. It is the immunological effects and significance of a particular drug such as morphine. The science of immunopharmacology aims to manipulate the immune system by modifying the endogenous immune responses to the benefit of the host in the treatment of diseases. The term immunopharmacology originally dates from 1959 when Andor Szentivanyi used it to relate the function of the nervous system to the immune system, and throughout the 1960s the term appeared with reference to the radioimmunoassay of drugs and hormones. The division into immunosubstituion, immunosuppression, antiallergic substances and immunostimulation gives the heterogeneous material a tighter structure than would any classification according to origin, chemical structure or mechanism of action.