Low doses of imatinib drug can push immune system to combat bacterial infections

In contiuation of my update on Imatinib

Low doses of the anti-cancer drug imatinib can spur the bone marrow to produce more innate immune cells to fight against bacterial infections, Emory researchers have found.

The results were published March 30, 2015 in the journal PLOS Pathogens.

The findings suggest imatinib, known commercially as Gleevec , or related drugs could help doctors treat a wide variety of infections, including those that are resistant to antibiotics, or in patients who have weakened immune systems. The research was performed in mice and on human bone marrow cells in vitro, but provides information on how to dose imatinib for new clinical applications.

"We think that low doses of imatinib are mimicking 'emergency hematopoiesis,' a normal early response to infection," says senior author Daniel Kalman, PhD, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Emory University School of Medicine.

Ref : http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1004770

Low doses of imatinib drug can push immune system to combat bacterial infections