Table 1.
Potential treatment targets for bullous pemphigoid (BP).
| Categories | Targets | Drugs or methods | Potential effects | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Immune tolerance | Regulatory T (Treg) cells | Interleukin (IL)-10 | Increasing Treg cells | (171) |
| Low-dose IL-2 | Inducing significant Treg cells expansion | (172, 173) | ||
| Oxymatrine | Upregulating FOXP3 Treg cells and reducing the production of tumor necrosis factor-α and IL-17A | (174) | ||
| BP180 NC16A | Gene gun delivery of NC16a-encoding DNA | Inducting tolerance of BP180 | (175) | |
| BP180 | Lactic-co-glycolic acid nanoparticles | Inducing antigen-specific T cell tolerance | (176) | |
| B cells | CD20 | Rituximab | Reducing all subclasses of immunoglobulin G (IgG) anti-BP180 autoantibodies | (102, 177) |
| Rituximab and intravenous immunoglobulin | Producing a prolonged and sustained remission in patients with active and recalcitrant BP | (39, 178) | ||
| Calcineurin inhibitors | Suppressing naive B cells | (179) | ||
| T cells | CD25 | Anti-CD25 antibodies | Targeting IL-2 receptor on activated T cells | (180) |
| Calcineurin | Calcineurin inhibitors | Inhibiting nuclear factor of activated T cells and blocking T-cell-dependent production of IgG | (181) | |
| CD4+ T cells | IL-10 | Lowering the number of circulating CD4+ T cells | (171) | |
| Co-stimulators | BAFF–APRIL | Tabaluma (anti-BAFF) | Neutralizing autoreactive and memory B cells | (182) |
| Anti-APRIL | Anti-proliferation and reducing autoantibodies production | (183, 184) | ||
| CD40–CD40L | Anti-CD40 | Regulating both innate and adaptive immunity and the activation of antigen-specific T cells | (185) | |
| Autoantibodies | IgG | SM101 | A soluble FcγR that competes with the interaction of IgG with membrane FcγRs | (186) |
| IgE | Omalizumab | Inhibiting IgE binding to FcεRI | (108) | |
| Autoantibodies | Immunoadsorption | Declining the serum autoantibody levels | (187, 188) | |
APRIL, a proliferation-inducing ligand; BAFF, B-cell activating factor.