Abstract

SANTOS, Gonçalo Martins dos; PRATES, Sara  and  LEIRIA-PINTO, Paula. Eosinophils and IL-5 - New horizons for the treatment of asthma and other eosinophilic diseases. Rev Port Imunoalergologia [online]. 2020, vol.28, n.4, pp.207-216. ISSN 0871-9721.  https://doi.org/10.32932/rpia.2020.12.044.

Eosinophils participate in the host defense as innate immune cells, although they are also associated with many diseases. Recently, it has been questioned whether the increased number of these cells in conditions characterized by eosinophilia is limited to a harmful event or if it is also involved in a homeostatic response. Interleukin-5 (IL-5) is the major cytokine involved in eosinophil production and activity. Anti-interleukin-5 (mepolizumab and reslizumab) and anti-interleukin-5 receptor (benralizumab) monoclonal antibodies are currently approved for the treatment of severe eosinophilic asthma phenotype, providing benefits in reducing symptoms and improving quality of life of these patients. In the future, an increased range of therapeutic indications for these drugs is expected. In this review we aimed to sum up the current and new evidences about the role of the eosinophils and IL-5 in the inflammatory response and the main features of the anti-IL 5/IL-5R monoclonal antibodies.

Keywords : Anti-IL-5 monoclonal antibodies; asthma; benralizumab; eosinophil; interleukin-5; mepolizumab; reslizumab.

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