Drug allergy pathophysiology
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Charmaine Patel, M.D. [2]
|
Drug Allergy |
|
Diagnosis |
|---|
|
Treatment |
|
Case Studies |
|
Drug allergy pathophysiology On the Web |
|
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Drug allergy pathophysiology |
|
Risk calculators and risk factors for Drug allergy pathophysiology |
Overview
Medications can cause allergic reactions through various mechanisms. The drug can either act as a direct antigenic particle, or it can cause activation of immune cells by the direct interaction with immune cell receptors.
Pathophysiology
Drugs Acting as Antigens
Most drugs do not act as antigenic particles in their mature form. This is because they are usually small, and therefore not recognized by immune receptors enough to actually activate T cells or B cells. However, drugs can act as antigens if they are presented to lymphocytes by antigen presenting cells such as dendrites. This response specific to the drug can be solely T-cell mediated, antibody mediated, or can have components of both.
- Stimulation of the antibody response- In general, antigens are processed by antigen presenting cells and presented to T-cells. This leads to t-cell activation and produces cytokines which then activate B cells.