Rapamycin (RAPA) is a new macrolide immunosuppressant, which is a new type of immunosuppressant with good efficacy, low toxicity and no nephrotoxicity.
Rapamycin (also known as "sirolimus") is a secondary metabolite secreted by Strepxomyces soil molds, whose chemical structure belongs to the "trienyl macrolides" class of compounds, which were first discovered by scientists in 1975 from the soil of Easter Island, Chile.
At the time, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved rapamycin not as an antimicrobial but as an "immunosuppressant" indication. This was due to the fact that rapamycin had demonstrated potent immunosuppressive effects in clinical trials, and since its introduction to the market, rapamycin has rapidly become a commonly used oral immunosuppressant for organ transplant recipients around the world.
A new type of highly effective immunosuppressant, clinically used in the anti-rejection of organ transplantation and the treatment of autoimmune diseases.
Rapamycin's antiproliferative effects have potential for use in the treatment of cancer and have been approved by the US FDA for the treatment of advanced stages of cancer.
It is now often used as a drug to maintain the immunity of transplanted organs (especially kidney transplants) in order to slow down the immune rejection after organ transplantation, but scientists have recently discovered another use for it: it can be used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (senile dementia).