Interleukin-1 Revisited

Immunological Variation Due to Genetics of Inflammatory SNPs and Age and Impact on Disease Manifestation

The immune system is a critical component in defense against viral, bacterial, parasitic, and fungal diseases. Immunological mechanisms, including immunological mediators, innate immunity, cell-mediated immunity, and humoral-mediated immunity, serve to maintain homeostasis and protect the host from disease. Immunological variation can impact defense mechanisms, however. Two factors in particular that can influence immune function are the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and aging. SNPs affecting inflammatory cytokines are an important modifier involved in a number of diseases such as asthma, periodontal disease, atherosclerosis, diabetic retinopathy, psoriasis, and osteoporosis. Age-related alterations to the immune system have also been studied and documented. The genetic makeup of different strains of mice and the age of these different strains cause large differences in susceptibility to infection, with influenza virus infection among the most widely studied. The mechanism of these differences due to either genetics or age is not known but can be investigated in strain- and age-specific infectious disease models.

The inflammasome and IL-1β: implications for the treatment of inflammatory diseases

The bioactive form of IL-1β, a key immunoregulatory and proinflammatory cytokine, is produced by the inflammasome - a caspase-1 activating molecular platform - in response to selected danger-associated molecular patterns and pathogen-associated molecular patterns. Advances in understanding the role of IL-1β in inflammatory conditions has resulted in IL-1β becoming a therapeutic target for a number of inflammatory diseases beyond the rare monogenic autoinflammatory diseases characterized by aberrant inflammasome function and enhanced bioactive IL-1β production. In the monogenic autoinflammatory diseases known as cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes, neutralization of IL-1β results in a rapid and sustained reduction in disease severity without severe side effects, which has consequently driven off-label applications of IL-1β-targeted therapy in other inflammatory diseases. This review summarizes inflammatory diseases for which accumulating evidence suggests a therapeutic potential for IL-1β antagonists.