The cytokines are coming

Article Abstract:

Cytokines are extremely potent polypeptides, or protein units, which regulate cell processes and enhance the growth and development of immature cells. The five groups of cytokines include interferons (IFN), interleukins (IL), hemopoietic stimulating factors, tumor necrosis factors (TNF), and various growth factors. Cytokines regulate normal growth, inflammation, and immune responses and interact with specific cell membrane attachment sites called receptors in a confined environment. Binding of the cytokine to its cell receptor triggers a series of cell processes leading to gene transcription, protein production, and changes in cell metabolism. Cytokines are released close to their sites of action, and can influence their own production and quantity and the nature of their receptors. The cytokine network consists of separate responses to several local cell processes, which can combine in the face of a potentially overwhelming attack. Hence the use of only one cytokine type to treat a malignancy may cause an imbalance in this coordinated network. Because cytokines regulate cell growth, they can activate the development of cancer. Cytokines have been used to enhance cell growth, to kill cells, and to modulate the immune system. The hemopoietic stimulating factors increase numbers of blood cells in patients with various blood disorders. IFN alpha and beta and TNF may be used to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Exposure of lymphocytes, a type of immune cell, to the cytokine IL-2 results in the activation of lymphocytes to kill cancer cells. The cytokine IFN-gamma activates various cells and factors of the immune system, increasing their actions against tumors and bacteria. Cytokines may also play a role in autoimmunity, an abnormal condition in which cells and factors of the immune system attack the body's own tissue. Future research should focus on the function of the cytokine network under normal and pathological conditions, and modification of this system with drugs or artificially produced cytokines. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Health aspects, Cytokines

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Monitoring of intestinal transplant rejection

Article Abstract:

This paper showed that in a successful gut transplant, the level of enzymes which break down various sugars is of normal value. The reduction of these levels in transplanted bowel was correlated with a microscopic confirmation of transplant rejection. These results suggest that monitoring specific enzymes involved in the breakdown of specific (disaccharide) sugars may be useful in monitoring bowel transplant rejections.

Graft rejection, Intestines, Transplantation immunology

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