Immunosuppressive agents and plasmapheresis in immunological disorders.

Plasmapheresis (PA) was introduced in the treatment of immunologically mediated disease at the beginning of last decade and it was initially claimed to be the panacea for several diseases. It was quickly realized that PA on its own did not have a sustained therapeutic effect and it was the immunosuppressive drugs which could help in the maintenance of an established effect. In this communication we review the immunoregulatory effects of several immunosuppressive agents and discuss their role when used in conjunction with PA primarily in the treatment of rheumatological disorders.