Table 1.
Therapeutic target | Species studied | Outcome | Reference, remarks |
---|---|---|---|
Viral and bacterial infections | Human, mouse | Effective vaccination in mice; oral and nasal route possible; no clear effect on chronic viral infections in clinical trials shown | (12–21) |
Parasites and fungi | Mouse | Enhanced vaccine effects in mice | (10, 22–24) αGalCer analogs were used in Ref. (10) (7DW8–5) and Ref. (20) (α-C-GalCer) for NKT cell activation |
Tumors | Human, mouse | Enhanced tumor protection and rejection in mice; clinical trials show only moderate effects in humans | (11, 14, 24–39) Antigen-pulsed DC were transferred in Ref. (32), no αGalCer or analog was added. αGalCer and α-C-GalCer were tested for tumor therapy in Ref. (34) |
Autoimmune diseases | Mouse | αGalCer dose-dependent amelioration or aggravation of autoimmune diseases; NKT cell hypo-responsiveness involved in some cases | (8, 40–52) Ref. (43) used OCH, a sphingosine-truncated analog of αGalCer for NKT cell activation |
iNKT cells were activated by αGalCer treatment if not indicated otherwise.