Extracorporeal affinity adsorption treatments which are aimed at the substantial removal of two or more compounds that are etiological in the pathogenesis of diseases in man provide effective therapeutic intervention means for these diseases. The methods are particularly suitable for the treatment of atherosclerosis, cancer, degenerative and autoimmune diseases. Extracorporeal chelation and immunotherapy for atherosclerosis, extracorporeal chelation treatment with on-line regeneration or replacement of chelant, extracorporeal immunotherapy with antibody fragments, and extracorporeal immunoadsorption utilizing antibodies bound to Protein A are also disclosed.

Claims

I claim:

1. A method for treating a disease state in a living mammal, the method comprising a step of administering to the mammal a moiety comprising a drug bound to an antibody, a step of drawing a fluid containing both the moiety and a chemical species which is etiological to the disease state or its symptoms from the mammal into an extracorporeal device, exposing the fluid to at least one affinity adsorbent for chemically binding the moiety and the chemical species in the device, and a step of returning to the mammal at least a fraction of the fluid.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the antibody is a fragment of a complete antibody.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the antibody fragment is produced by synthesis.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one affinity adsorbent comprises an antibody to the drug.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the drug is Adriamycin.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one affinity adsorbent comprises an antibody to the antibody constituent of the drug-antibody moiety.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one affinity adsorbent comprises an antigen specific to the antibody constituent of the drug-antibody moiety.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one affinity adsorbent comprises a species selected from the group consisting of Protein A, Protein G, and C1q bound to anti-C1q antibody.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the at least one affinity adsorbent is Protein A or Protein G.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the drug is radioactive.

11. The method of claim 1 including a further step of administering to the living mammal intravenously at least one plasma component.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the plasma component is gamma globulin.

13. A method for diagnosing a disease state in a living mammal, the method comprising a step of administering to the mammal a moiety comprising a radioactive species bound to an antibody, a step of drawing a fluid containing both the moiety and a chemical species which is etiological to the disease state or its symptoms from the mammal into an extracorporeal device, exposing the fluid to at least one affinity adsorbent for chemically binding the moiety and the chemical species in the device, and a step of returning to the mammal at least a fraction of the fluid.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the at least one affinity adsorbent comprises a species selected from the group consisting of Protein A, Protein G, and C1q bound to anti-C1q antibody.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the at least one affinity adsorbent is Protein A or Protein G.

16. The method of claim 13 including a further step of administering to the living mammal intravenously at least one plasma component.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the plasma component is gamma globulin.

18. A method for treating a disease state in a living mammal, the method comprising a step of administering to the mammal a moiety comprising a drug bound to an antibody, the drug being selected from the group consisting of haptens and antigens, a step of drawing a fluid containing the moiety from the mammal into an extracorporeal device, exposing the fluid to an affinity adsorbent selected from the group consisting of Protein A and Protein G for chemically binding the moiety in the device, and a step of returning to the mammal at least a fraction of the fluid.

19. A method for diagnosing a disease state in a living mammal, the method comprising a step of administering to the mammal a moiety comprising a radioactive species bound to an antibody, the radioactive species being selected from the group consisting of radioactive haptens and radioactive antigens, a step of drawing a fluid containing the moiety from the mammal into an extracorporeal device, exposing the fluid to an affinity adsorbent selected from the group consisting of Protein A and Protein G for chemically binding the moiety in the device, and a step of returning to the mammal at least a fraction of the fluid.

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