Cytokine Therapy

This chapter discusses cytokine-based therapies for the treatment of infectious and inflammatory diseases. Cytokines are secreted primarily by immune cells and are one of the major pathways by which they interact and communicate. They control many biological processes, including cell growth and differentiation, apoptosis, and pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory responses, and play an important role in the innate and adaptive host defense against pathogens. Dysregulation of cytokine production is associated with immune and inflammatory diseases; however, their pro-inflammatory action can be used to treat many infectious diseases. These observations led to the development of cytokine-based therapeutic agents that are categorized into two groups, cytokine agents that induce the immune response to facilitate clearance of pathogens, and cytokine inhibitors that block inflammatory activity of cytokines either by preventing their binding to receptors or by blocking their signaling pathways. While cytokines have also been extensively developed for immunotherapy of cancer, we will not be discussing these further.