Synthetic and natural immunomodulators acting as interferon inducers.

Interferons are first immunomodulatory molecules that have been shown to display a wide range of applications due to their antiviral, antibacterial, antitumor, and inflammatory activities. Natural and recombinant interferons are among most common biologic therapeutics worldwide. Interferon inducers, however, are less known and have been mostly developed and used in former socialist countries. Despite the fact that they are virtually unknown to the Western world, they represent a substantial market share of modern pharmacopoeia in former socialist republics. This review provides a brief description of most popular interferon inducers including Amyxin, Amizon, Anandin, Arbidol, Blasten, Cycloferon, Galavit, Groprinosine, Hepon, Immunoxel, Dzherelo, Kagocel, Larifan, Ligfol, Likopid, Mebavin, MIGI-KLP, V-5 Immunitor, SCV-07, Milife, Neovir, Poludan, Ragocin, Ridostin, Thymogen and Savratz, some of which were in use for several decades for the same clinical indications as for interferons. The variety and choice offered by the pharmaceutical industry behind the former "iron curtain" certainly deserves the appreciation, familiarity and application prospects for medical and research investigators worldwide.

Oral vaccination: where we are?

As early as 900 years ago, the Bedouins of the Negev desert were reported to kill a rabid dog, roast its liver and feed it to a dog-bitten person for three to five days according to the size and number of bites [1] . In sixteenth century China, physicians routinely prescribed pills made from the fleas collected from sick cows, which purportedly prevented smallpox. One may dismiss the wisdom of the Bedouins or Chinese but the Nobel laureate, Charles Richet, demonstrated in 1900 that feeding raw meat can cure tuberculous dogs - an approach he termed zomotherapy. Despite historical clues indicating the feasibility of oral vaccination, this particular field is notoriously infamous for the abundance of dead-end leads. Today, most commercial vaccines are delivered by injection, which has the principal limitation that recipients do not like needles. In the last few years, there has been a sharp increase in interest in needle-free vaccine delivery; new data emerges almost daily in the literature. So far, there are very few licensed oral vaccines, but many more vaccine candidates are in development. Vaccines delivered orally have the potential to take immunization to a fundamentally new level. In this review, the authors summarize the recent progress in the area of oral vaccines.