Abstract
Corticosteroids which are incorporated in lipid emulsion are easily taken up by reticulo-endothelial system (RES) much more than free corticosteroids. In this study, the immunosuppressive effect of dexamethasone palmitate incorporated in lipid emulsion was compared with that of the free dexamethasone disodium phosphate. It showed that the antibody response in spleen to SRBC and DNP-Ficoll, the proliferative response of spleen cells to mitogens, DTH response to SRBC, ADCC activity of spleen cells and the effect on RES function in mice were strongly suppressed by dexamethasone palmitate incorporated in lipid emulsion when compared with the free corticosteroid. In addition, the effect in delaying mortality by preventing the spontaneous autoimmune disease of MRL/l mice was observed by the treatment with dexamethasone palmitate incorporated in lipid emulsion.
From these results, dexamethasone palmitate incorporated in lipid emulsion is a potent long-acting immunosuppressant and is thought to be of value in the treatment of autoimmune disease such as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) .
