| abstract |
Immunotherapy comprises administering to the patient's dendritic cells a dose of alkaloid sufficient to induce IL-2 production. This alkaloid induces IL-2 production in dendritic cells. The alkaloid need not be naturally occurring, and may be a synthetic analog or derivative of a naturally occurring one. Such analogs or derivatives are preferably pharmaceutically acceptable analogs, salts, isomers or derivatives as defined herein. However, preferred alkaloids are plant compounds. Such plant compounds can be isolated from natural sources or synthesized in vitro. Particularly preferred are alkaloids selected from piperidine alkaloids, pyrroline alkaloids, pyrrolidine alkaloids, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, indolizidine alkaloids, and nortropane alkaloids. |