Cyclosporine/tacrolimus (FK-506)

The search for effective and safe methods of blocking the immune response has continued over the last four decades and has in fact permitted many advances in clinical organ transplantation. In the mid-1970s Borel et al.[1] discovered the immunosuppressive properties of a new agent, cyclosporine (CsA), that, unlike azathioprine and adrenal corticosteroids, selectively inhibits the adaptive immune response. This was the basis for its widespread clinical use during the 1980s and it had a major impact on the management of graft rejection in organ transplantation.