THERAPEUTIC MEDICINE CONTAINING MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY AGAINST FOLATE RECEPTOR BETA (FR-beta)

摘要

A therapeutic agent for arthrorheumatism, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, macrophage activation syndrome, blood poisoning and FR-beta expression leukemia, which therapeutic agent induces apoptosis of folate receptor beta (FR-beta) expression leukemia cells and activated macrophages to thereby specifically injure these cells. There is provided an FR-beta monoclonal antibody that is preferably an IgG monoclonal antibody specifically reactive with a human FR-beta antigen and is produced by a clone resulting from immunization with FR-beta expression B300-19 cell. The FR-beta monoclonal antibody specifically reacts with an FR-beta antigen of FR-beta expression leukemia cells and activated macrophages. Further, there is provided a therapeutic agent comprising as an active ingredient an FR-beta antibody immunotoxin capable of expressing of apoptosis in FR-beta expression leukemia cells and activated macrophages. With respect to a suitable manner of administration of the above therapeutic agent, there can be mentioned not only intravenous injection but also intra-articular injection as for a therapeutic agent for arthrorheumatism or therapeutic agent for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.