Thalidomide is an immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory agent and is used in autoimmune disorders. It has been shown that thalidomide inhibits proinflammatory cytokines production. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of thalidomide on the prevention of autoimmune diabetes in mice. Diabetes was induced by multiple low-dose of streptozotocin (MLDS) injection. Mice were treate...

Tumor angiogenesis is a critical factor in the growth and metastasis of most malignant neoplasms. Thalidomide (Thalomid), banned from clinical use in the 1960s because of severe teratogenicity, has been shown to possess antiangiogenic properties. A recent clinical trial of antiangiogenic therapy with thalidomide demonstrated significant activity in a group of patients with relapsed refractory m...

Cereblon, a primary target of thalidomide and its derivatives, has been characterized structurally from both bacteria and animals. Especially well studied is the thalidomide binding domain, CULT, which shows an invariable structure across different organisms and in complex with different ligands. Here, based on a series of crystal structures of a bacterial representative, we reveal the conforma...

Thalidomide is an infamous drug whose use by pregnant women in the middle of last century tragically resulted in serious birth defects. However, as a result of its potent immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and antiangiogenic properties, thalidomide may be a potential therapy in many diseases. In recent years, thalidomide has been used effectively to treat various malignancies, including multip...

BACKGROUND Cases of impaired renal function have been reported in patients who had been treated with both zoledronic acid and thalidomide for myeloma. Hence, we conducted a safety study of zoledronic acid and thalidomide in myeloma patients participating in a trial of maintenance therapy. METHODS Twenty-four patients who were enrolled in a large randomized trial of thalidomide vs no thalidomi...

Half a century ago, thalidomide was widely prescribed to pregnant women as a sedative but was found to be teratogenic, causing multiple birth defects. Today, thalidomide is still used in the treatment of leprosy and multiple myeloma, although how it causes limb malformation and other developmental defects is unknown. Here, we identified cereblon (CRBN) as a thalidomide-binding protein. CRBN for...

Thalidomide, which inhibits monocyte tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha production and costimulates T cells, was tested for immune modulation in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and tuberculosis (TB) in a placebo-controlled study. Thalidomide therapy resulted in increased levels of plasma interleukin (IL)-2 receptor, soluble CD8, interferon-gamma, and IL-12, indicating ...

For treating Leishmania major infection in BALB/c mice, we used thalidomide in conjunction with glucantime. Groups of mice were challenged with 510(3) metacyclic promastigotes of L. major subcutaneously. A week after the challenge, drug treatment was started and continued for 12 days. Thalidomide was orally administrated 30 mg/kg/day and glucantime was administrated intraperitoneally (200 mg/kg...

BACKGROUND Thalidomide inhibits TNF-α production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated monocytes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of thalidomide on TNF-α, IL-6 and MMP secretion in epithelial ovarian carcinoma cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS SKOV-3 cells and primary epithelial ovarian carcinoma cells were cultured in the presence of various concentrations of thalidomide. Cell prolife...