Tayal Vandana, Kalra Bhupinder Singh
Department of Pharmacology, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, 110002, India.
Eur J Pharmacol. 2008 Jan 28;579(1-3):1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2007.10.049. Epub 2007 Oct 25.
Cytokines which comprise of a family of proteins--interleukins, lymphokines, monokines, interferons, and chemokines, are important components of the immune system. They act in concert with specific cytokine inhibitors and soluble cytokine receptors to regulate the human immune response. Their physiologic role in inflammation and pathologic role in systemic inflammatory states are now well recognized. An imbalance in cytokine production or cytokine receptor expression and/or dysregulation of a cytokine process contributes to various pathological disorders. Research is progressing rapidly in the area of cytokines and their therapeutic targets, the two major therapeutic modalities being the administration of purified recombinant cytokines and the use of their antagonists in various inflammatory disorders. However, given the large number of cytokines, it is disappointing that only relatively few can be used clinically. In the present article, we have made an attempt to review and present a glimpse of the history as well as up to date information that is pertinent to cytokines and anti-cytokine therapies in the treatment of cancer, autoimmune disorders and various other related diseases.
细胞因子是由一组蛋白质组成的，包括白细胞介素、淋巴因子、单核因子、干扰素和趋化因子，是免疫系统的重要组成部分。它们与特定的细胞因子抑制剂和可溶性细胞因子受体协同作用，以调节人体免疫反应。它们在炎症中的生理作用以及在全身炎症状态中的病理作用现已得到充分认识。细胞因子产生的失衡、细胞因子受体表达的失衡和/或细胞因子过程的失调会导致各种病理紊乱。细胞因子及其治疗靶点领域的研究进展迅速，两种主要的治疗方式是给予纯化的重组细胞因子以及在各种炎症性疾病中使用其拮抗剂。然而，鉴于细胞因子数量众多，令人失望的是只有相对较少的细胞因子可用于临床。在本文中，我们试图回顾并简要介绍与细胞因子和抗细胞因子疗法在治疗癌症、自身免疫性疾病及各种其他相关疾病方面相关的历史以及最新信息。
