您内阁中的大多数药物可能来自非生物材料。考虑一下常见药物,如抗酸,阿司匹林或医生规定的他汀类药物。这些都在从合成成分的实验室中创建。由于这些药物如此熟悉,许多人可能无法意识到他们不来自大自然。

生物制剂是不同的。他们是一个截然不同的阶级of drugs made from biological sources. More specifically, they’re extracted or synthesized from biologic systems, but they often mimic cell products that occur naturally in the body. These treatments hold promise of relief for people living with inflammatory conditions such as arthritis. Many生物学are only now becoming widely prescribed, but the class of treatment has existed for many decades.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 将生物制剂定义为由天然来源制成的产品。这意味着它们可以包括从微生物到动物和人类的一切中的物质。生物制剂使用蛋白质,糖,细胞,组织和其他天然材料来创造医疗产品。

Synthetic drugs have a specific makeup. Aspirin, for example, is made up of 21 atoms formed in a specific shape. By contrast, the full composition of biologics is often unknown. That’s because the material is complicated and larger than chemicals made in a laboratory. These drugs are fragile and kept in liquid form, and they’re injected or administered intravenously.

您可能知道的许多医疗产品类似于生物学。用于输血的疫苗和血液是两个例子。

生物学在医学领域产生了重大影响。根据A的情况,2017年,FDA批准了治疗许多病症,包括肾病,多发性硬化,哮喘,高胆固醇,类风湿性关节炎,狼疮和克罗恩病。报告在科学的美国人。

Scientists have made some major advances in treatments, thanks to biologics. T-VEC, a drug that targets melanoma cells, is classified as a biologic. The drug is made from a genetically modified herpes virus. It kills the cancer cells while leaving the healthy cells intact.

许多着名的药物,例如垃圾和鬣狗用于银屑病关节炎,是生物制剂。这些药物瞄准导致症状的身体免疫系统的区域。例如,与银屑病关节炎的人具有过多的肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)蛋白。该蛋白质导致炎症。Enbrel取消激活TNF-α,减少炎症。

生物学的吸引力是他们针对身体的特定部分进行治疗的能力,如垃圾的情况下。常规药物在身体的整个免疫系统或更广泛的免疫途径上工作。

Drugs, both synthetic and biologic, typically work by entering cells within the body. Once inside, the drugs change how the cells operate, work, or interact with immune cells. Synthetic drugs are smaller than biologics, so they don’t always hit their target. Biologics are larger, which gives the drugs more ways to attach in the right spot.

尽管生物制剂以更精确的精确度击中了他们的目标标记,但它们并不总是在那些带来的每个人都有相同的工作。医生仍然不知道哪些生物学将为每个特定患者工作。例如,一个银屑病关节炎患者可能对嵌入效果很好,因为它靶向TNF-α。另一个患者可以响应不同的生物学,例如Costylex,其靶向蛋白质白细胞介素-17。

与常规药物一样,生物制剂具有其他可能的副作用和风险。这一切都取决于药物如何在身体上工作。约翰霍普金斯关节炎中心警告一些生物学改变了如何免疫系统功能。对于使用某些类型生物制剂的人来说,感染和癌症的风险更大。此外,生物学可能会触发其他自身免疫条件。

Biologics are not a first-line treatment for most conditions. Depending on your medical history, your doctor may want to start with conventional drugs before biologics. For example, if you’re diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, most doctors may first prescribe nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). If those drugs don’t work, your doctor may decide that a biologic is a better treatment option.

Recent scientific advancements have removed some of the mystery surrounding biologics. As new drug approvals demonstrate, there is a growing focus among researchers on biologics. These drugs have the potential to treat a wide range of conditions. They represent a new generation of medications that offer the chance for improved well-being in many people.