Carol A. Feghali, Ph.D., and Timothy M. Wright, M.D.

Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, E1109 Biomedical Science Tower, 200 Lothrop St., Pittsburgh, PA 15261

Received 11/06/96; Accepted 12/13/96; On-line 01/01/97

6. SUMMARY

In summary, cytokines are key modulators of inflammation. They participate in acute and chronic inflammation in a complex network of interactions. Several cytokines exhibit some redundancy in function and share overlapping properties as well as subunits of their cell surface receptors. Better understanding of the pathways regulated by cytokines will allow the identification and/or development of agents for improved modulation of the inflammatory response for the treatment of autoimmune, infectious, and neoplastic diseases.