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Table 2 List of immunomodulatory therapies analysed in this review, their Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)/Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval status and their mechanism of action

From: A systematic review of immune-based interventions for perinatal neuroprotection: closing the gap between animal studies and human trials

Reference(s)

Therapeutic

TGA/FDA approval

Mechanism

Antifungals

[61]

Fluconazole

Yes/yes

Selective inhibitor of fungal cell wall synthesis

Corticosteroids

[43, 44, 54, 62, 63]

Dexamethasone

Yes/yes

A corticosteroid that acts on glucocorticoid receptors which suppresses neutrophil migration, macrophage activation and lymphocyte proliferation and decreases permeability of capillaries. More rapid onset and shorter duration of action than betamethasone

[62]

Hydrocortisone

Yes/yes

A corticosteroid that acts on glucocorticoid receptors which suppresses neutrophil migration, macrophage activation and lymphocyte proliferation and decreases permeability of capillaries. Less potent and shorter acting than dexamethasone

[54, 64]

Betamethasone

Yes/yes

A corticosteroid that acts on glucocorticoid receptors which suppresses neutrophil migration, macrophage activation and lymphocyte proliferation and decreases permeability of capillaries. More potent and longer lasting than dexamethasone and hydrocortisone

Inter-alpha inhibitor proteins

[65, 66]

Human plasma derived inter-alpha inhibitor proteins

No/no

Endogenous human plasma proteins that block the release of serine proteases protecting cells from cytotoxicity

Complement inhibitors

[67]

RLS-0071

No/no

An amino acid peptide that binds to the C1q compliment protein preventing downstream signalling of the compliment pathway

TLR7 agonist

[41, 42]

(Gardiquimod) GDQ

No/no

An imidazoquinoline analogue that induces the activation of NF-κB in cells expressing human or mouse TLR7

Antibiotics

[57]

Ceftriaxone

Yes/yes

A broad-spectrum cephalosporin antibiotic that inhibits the mucopeptide synthesis in the bacterial cell wall

[57]

Daptomycin

Yes/yes

A broad-spectrum cyclic lipopeptide antibiotic against Gram-positive bacteria. Disrupts bacterial cell membrane function

[58]

Vancomycin

Yes/yes

A glycopeptide antibiotic against Gram-positive bacteria. Inhibits cell wall biosynthesis

[68]

Doxycycline

Yes/yes

A tetracycline antibiotic that inhibits bacterial protein synthesis

Methylxanthines

[58]

Pentoxifylline

Yes/yes

A methylxanthine derivative that lowers blood viscosity by increasing erythrocyte flexibility, reducing plasma fibrinogen, inhibiting neutrophil activation, and suppressing erythrocyte/platelet aggregation

NF-kB inhibitors

[59]

Tat-NBD peptide

No/no

A 22 amino acid peptide that inhibits NF-κB signalling by penetrating the cell and blocking the NF-κB essential modifier (NEMO)

Fingolimod

[37, 47, 48, 70]

Fingolimod (FTY720)

Yes/yes

A sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor agonist that causes lymphocytes to be sequestered to the lymph nodes

GSK3β inhibitor

[71]

SB216763

No/no

Selectively inhibits the activity of GSK-3α and GSK-3β, preventing PI3-kinase induced cell death

Innate defence regulator proteins

[60]

IDR-1018

No/no

A synthetic 12 amino acid antibiofilm peptide that selectively binds to the nucleotide (p)ppGpp inhibiting bacterial function

Lipoxin A4

[72]

LXA4

No/no

A metabolite of arachidonic acid that stimulates the bacteria-killing capacity of leukocytes, inhibit neutrophil infiltration and pro-inflammatory cytokine and chemokine production via inhibition of NF-κB and activator protein 1

Cytokine IL-35 targeted therapies

[73]

Recombinant human IL-35

No/no

An anti-inflammatory cytokine that induces regulatory T and B lymphocytes

Melanocortin 1 receptor agonists

[74]

BMS-470539

No/no

A small molecule that acts as a selective agonist of the melanocortin 1 receptor promoting downstream signalling

COX2 inhibitors

[45, 75]

Ibuprofen

Yes/yes

A non-steroidal anti-inflammatory that non selectively inhibits COX1 and COX2 to reduce prostaglandin synthesis

[53]

Celecoxib

Yes/yes

A non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that selectively inhibits COX2 and decreases prostaglandin synthesis

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor

[76]

Human G-CSF produced by recombinant DNA technology

No/no

An endogenous lipoxygenase-derived eicosanoid mediator that suppresses leukocytes and inhibits production of pro-inflammatory cytokines

Colony stimulating factor 1

[77]

Rh-CSF1

No/no

Recombinant human growth factor of CSF1 that leads to the recruitment of CSF1R expressing cells including macrophages, monocytes and dendritic cells

Cytokine TNF targeted therapies

[40, 52, 56]

Etanercept

Yes/yes

A soluble TNF receptor that sequesters TNF to prevent it from interacting with endogenous TNF receptors

Cytokine IL-1 targeted therapies

[38, 39]

Mouse anti- ovine-IL-1β, monoclonal antibodies

No/no

A mouse-anti-ovine IL-1β monoclonal antibody that binds to ovine IL-1β and neutralises inflammation by blocking IL-1β from interacting with the IL-1β receptors

[46, 49,50,51, 55]

Anakinra

Yes/yes

A recombinant human IL-1 receptor antagonist that competitively binds to the IL-1 receptor inhibiting the activity of IL-1α and IL-1β

[46]

101.10 (Rytvela)

No/no

An allosteric IL-1 receptor peptide antagonist that selectively binds to the IL-1 receptor inhibiting the activity of IL-1α and IL-1β