Kulsoom Ghias, Medical College, The Aga Khan University, Karachi.
Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies as Anti-Infectious Agents: Past and Present.
Infect Dis J Jan ;17(1):23-6.

Recent technological advances in the development and production of antibody-based therapies have yielded several clinical treatment options for both non-infectious and infectious diseases. Rodent sequences contained in earlier generations of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies using hybridoma technology resulted in harmful immunogenic responses in humans. Subsequent advances in antibody production resulted in decreased rodent sequence content and resultant immunogenicity, first in chimeric antibodies and then in humanized antibodies. Current phage display and transgenic mouse techniques have allowed for the development of fully human monoclonal antibodies that promise to further reduce anti-antibody immunologic responses. Optimization of therapeutic monoclonal antibody design, production and delivery could prove to be especially advantageous for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, especially given the rise of new as well as drugresistant microorganisms and the problems associated with antimicrobial drugs in immunocompromised patients. The successful development of an effective monoclonal antibody alternative to replace the traditional combination of vaccine and immunoglobulin for the treatment of rabies is a good example of the promise that therapeutic monoclonal antibodies hold. This is a review article.

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