[Cytokines: present and future therapeutic applications].

Recent technological developments have led in the the last years to the isolation and characterization of a group of polypeptides, generally termed cytokines, which are produced by cells of the immune system, and by other cell types; these peptides regulate the immune response and the inflammatory reaction, and, in general, cellular growth and differentiation. Because of the availability of large quantities of these cytokines, produced with recombinant DNA techniques, their use in therapy is now possible; promising results have been obtained in some diseases.