Meester I, Solis-Soto JM. Cytokines: monitors of disease severity for the clinic.
ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2013;
3:143-55. [PMID:
23485161 DOI:
10.1517/17530050802708999]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Cytokines communicate between the cells of the immune system and its targets to maintain homeostasis after injury or pathogenic events. They are involved in almost any pathological situation imaginable.
OBJECTIVE
To verify the importance of cytokines as biomarkers in current preclinical (aetiopathogenic, development of new therapies) and clinical studies (diagnosis, disease severity, prognosis and response to therapy).
METHOD/RESULTS
A Medline search with the query 'cytokine' AND 'biomarker' AND a variable for a variety of biomedical fields, followed by deeper-level searches, demonstrated the immense popularity of cytokines as biomarkers in almost any biomedical field.
CONCLUSION
As cytokines are not disease-specific they do not serve as single diagnostic biomarkers. The strength of the cytokines resides in monitoring disease severity, prognosis and response to treatment.
Collapse