Are blood cytokines reliable biomarkers of allergic disease diagnosis and treatment responses?

With the development of targeted therapies for allergic diseases, the need for biomarkers supporting disease diagnosis and management has increased. Recent research has elucidated the pattern of cytokines and their distinct roles in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases. This means that cytokines should be considered as biomarkers. In this review article, we summarize published findings and critically discuss the use of cytokine measurements in association with disease diagnosis and management. Among the variety of suggested cytokines, thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC) stands out and can indeed serve as a biomarker of atopic dermatitis. Both biologic characteristics and technical issues determine the reliability and limit the use of blood cytokines as biomarkers.