Until a few years ago, cytokines were only known to immunologists; now these molecules have burst upon neurosciences and permeated several avenues of current research. This book examines the possible role of cytokines in mental depression, based on recent clinical and experimental data, and constitutes the first attempt to make a synthesis between the exciting new developments in cytokine research and their implications for the pathophysiology of mental disorders.

The Cytokines of the Immune System catalogs cytokines and links them to physiology and pathology, providing a welcome and hugely timely tool for scientists in all related fields. In cataloguing cytokines, it lists their potential for therapeutic use, links them to disease treatments needing further research and development, and shows their utility for learning about the immune system. This book offers a new approach in the study of cytokines by combining detailed guidebook-style cytokine description, disease linking, and presentation of immunologic roles. Supplies new ideas for basic and clinical research Provides cytokine descriptions in a guidebook-style, cataloging the origins, structures, functions, receptors, disease-linkage, and therapeutic potentials Offers a textbook-style view on the immune system with the immunologic role of each cytokine

Every aspect of immune function and host defense is dependent upon a proper supply and balance of nutrients. Severe malnutrition can cause significant alteration in immune response, but even subclinical deficits may be associated with an impaired immune response, and an increased risk of infection. Infectious diseases have accounted for more off-duty days during major wars than combat wounds or nonbattle injuries. Combined stressors may reduce the normal ability of soldiers to resist pathogens, increase their susceptibility to biological warfare agents, and reduce the effectiveness of vaccines intended to protect them. There is also a concern with the inappropriate use of dietary supplements. This book, one of a series, examines the impact of various types of stressors and the role of specific dietary nutrients in maintaining immune function of military personnel in the field. It reviews the impact of compromised nutrition status on immune function; the interaction of health, exercise, and stress (both physical and psychological) in immune function; and the role of nutritional supplements and newer biotechnology methods reported to enhance immune function. The first part of the book contains the committee's workshop summary and evaluation of ongoing research by Army scientists on immune status in special forces troops, responses to the Army's questions, conclusions, and recommendations. The rest of the book contains papers contributed by workshop speakers, grouped under such broad topics as an introduction to what is known about immune function, the assessment of immune function, the effect of nutrition, and the relation between the many and varied stresses encountered by military personnel and their effect on health.

Cytokines had been characterized in the early eighties as communication mole cules between immune cells, and between immunocytes and other peripheral cells, such as fibroblasts and endothelial cells. They play a key role in the regulation of the immune response and the coordination of the host response to infection. Based on these biological properties, nobody would have predicted that one decade later cytokines would burst upon neurosciences and permeate into several avenues of current research. In neurology, the connection between cytokines and inflammation, and the demonstration of a pivotal role of some of these molecules in cell death by apoptosis, prompted the investigation of their involvement in several neurological diseases involving an inflammatory component, including multiple sclerosis, brain trauma, stroke, and Alzheimer's disease. This movement started in the late eighties, and the corresponding field of research, known as neuroimmunology, is presently booming. In psychiatry, however, the relationship between cytokines and mental disorders was much less evident and took longer to materialize. The first indication that cytokines might be involved in psychopathology came from cancerology and internal medicine.

Within the past few years, it has become recognized that the immune system communicates to the brain. Substances released from activated immune cells (cytokines) stimulate peripheral nerves, thereby signaling the brain and spinal cord that infection/inflammation has occurred. Additionally, peripheral infection/inflammation leads to de novo synthesis and release of cytokines within the brain and spinal cord. Thus, cytokines effect neural activation both peripherally and centrally. Through this communication pathway, cytokines such as interleukin-1, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor markedly alter brain function, physiology and behavior. One important but underrecognized aspect of this communication is the dramatic impact that immune activation has on pain modulation. The purpose of this book is to examine, for the first time, immune-to-brain communication from the viewpoint of its effect on pain processing. It is aimed both at the basic scientist and health care providers, in order to clarify the major role that substances released by immune cells play in pain modulation. This book contains chapters contributed by all of the major laboratories focused on understanding how cytokines modulate pain. These chapters provide a unique vantage point from which to examine this question, as the summarized work ranges from evolutionary approaches across diverse species, to the basics of the immune response, to the effect of cytokines on peripheral and central nervous system sites, to therapeutic potential in humans.

The field of cytokine research is expanding at a rapid pace Contributions from the major leading groups in the world on the structure and biological properties of cytokine and cytokine receptors, as well as integrated reviews on cytokines in various physiological and pathological conditions were presented in three issues of International Reviews of Immunology This collection of articles provided a unique source of information However, important discoveries are emerging very rapidly and some of the reviews written in 1997 are already outdated In this book, the editors assemble reviews that have been updated by their authors to include all the recent publications and unpublished data from the authors' laboratories This volume should serve as an excellent reference source for all those concerned by the multiple faces of cytokines in basic research and in the clinic

Cytokine Storm Syndromes, including HLH and MAS, are frequently fatal disorders, particularly if not recognized early and treated during presentation. The genetics of Cytokine Storm Syndromes are being defined with many of the risk alleles giving rise to mutations in the perforin-mediated cytolytic pathway used by CD8 cytotoxic T cells and natural killer cells. These are being studied using murine models. Up to 10% of the general population may carry risk alleles for developing Cytokine Storm Syndromes, and Cytokine Storm Syndromes are being increasingly recognized around the world in pediatric and adult hospitals. A variety of infectious, rheumatic, and oncologic triggers are commonly associated with Cytokine Storm Syndromes, but understanding this disorder is critical for all researchers and physicians to ensure timely and appropriate therapy. This textbook, the first of its kind, addresses all aspects of the disorder – from genetics, pathophysiology, and ongoing research, to clinical presentations, risk factors, and treatment.