Ciclosporin (INN) (IPA: ) , cyclosporine (USAN) or cyclosporin (former BAN), is an immunosuppressant drug widely used post-allogeneic organ transplant to reduce the activity of the patient's immune system and so the risk of organ rejection. It has been studied in transplants of skin, heart, kidney, lung, pancreas, bone marrow and small intestine. Ciclosporin is a cyclic nonribosomal peptide of 11 amino acids (an undecapeptide) produced by the fungus Tolypocladium inflatum Gams, initially isolated from a Norwegian soil sample.Borel, Jean F. (one of the original researchers), "History of the discovery of cyclosporin and of its early pharmacological development," Wien Klin Wochenschr (2002) 114/12: 433–437. Some sources list the fungus under an alternative species name Hypocladium inflatum gams such as Pritchard, DI. 2005. "Sourcing a chemical succession for cyclosporin from parasites and human pathogens". Drug Discovery Today 10 688-691 and Walter Sneader 2005. "Ciclosporin" in: "Drug Discovery - A History", John Wiley & Sons, pages: 298-299 (refs. page 315). However, the name, Tolypocladium inflatum Gams, also appears in several other articles including in a 2001 online publication by Harriet Upton entitled "[http://www.world-of-fungi.org/Mostly_Medical/Harriet_Upton/Harriet_Upton.htm Origin of drugs in current use: the cyclosporin story" (retrieved June 19, 2005). Mark Plotkin states in his book Medicine Quest, Penguin Books 2001, pages 46-47, that in 1996 mycology researcher Kathie Hodge found that it is in fact a species of Cordyceps.

Indications

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The immuno-suppressive effect of ciclosporin was discovered on January 31, 1972, by employees of Sandoz (now Novartis) in Basle, Switzerland, in a screening test on immune-suppression designed and implemented by Hartmann F. Stähelin. Ciclosporin was subsequently approved for use in 1983.

Apart from in transplant medicine, ciclosporin is also used in psoriasis and infrequently in rheumatoid arthritis and related diseases, although it is only used in severe cases. It has been investigated for use in many other autoimmune disorders. It is often taken in conjunction with corticosteroids. More recently, ciclosporin has begun to be used to help treat patients suffering from ulcerative colitis with positive results.

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