Inhibition of the local inflammatory response in man by antimetabolites.

anisms are altered in part by the particular disease process and also, at times, by the therapeutic measures used in these disorders. Antimetabolite therapy, for example, can inhibit both primary and secondary antibody responses, impair the development of delayed hypersensitivity, and block homograft rejection.2 Page and coworkers,3 in a study of the effects of 6-mercaptopurine ( 6-MP) on inflammation in rabbits, noted suppression of the mononuclear phase of the local inflammatory response. The effects of a variety of chemotherapeutic agents and dosage schedules on inflammation in man were studied and are the subject of this report. Studies of anti-inflammatory therapy in man may lead to better understanding of altered host defense during chemotherapy and may be useful in evaluating therapy in inflammatory disorders.