| abstract |
Acadesine (also known as AICA riboside or AICAR) does not inhibit apoptosis in lymphocytes, as it might be expected, but it induces apoptosis in B cells from patients with B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders such as B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL), splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), follicular lymphoma (FL), lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL), and Waldenstrom syndrome (WS). T cells are not affected. This makes acadesine and its bioprecursors (eg. its mono-, di- and tri-5′-phosphates) useful as therapeutic agents for B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders in humans. The surprising feature that T cells are virtually not affected means that the side effect (immunosuppression) is minor, what represents a therapeutical advantage of acadesine over cladribine, fludarabine and other nucleosides known in the art. |