Drug Discov Today. 2002 Jul; 7(14): 775-8.

Sterols and sterolins: new drugs for the immune system?

Bouic PJ.

Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, PO Box 19063, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa. pjdb@sun.ac.za

Since the discovery of glucocorticoids, we have had a single strategy for manipulating the immune system in cases of destructive diseases mediated by uncontrolled immune responses. However, long-term use of immunosuppressive drugs can lead to the threat of opportunistic infections and malignancies. As we learn more about regulatory subsets of T lymphocytes and their cytokine profiles, the thrust has been on developing new ligands that ultimately give us more site-specific control. Our group has developed a patented mixture of plant sterols and sterolins that has anti-inflammatory properties and profound immune modulating effects on subsets of CD4+ T cells. We have tested this mixture in several clinical entities and we believe that it has wide applications in reverting immune abnormalities.