This important new book focuses on the involvement of cytokines in specific areas of inflammatory diseases, such as granulomatous responses, lung disease, hepatic dysfunction and the acute phase, arthritis and accompanying bone remodeling, neurogenic inflammation, and shock. The roles of GM-CSF, IL-6, IL-2, TGFb EGF, and LIF are discussed, as well as the medical treatments that affect cytokine activity. The results of approaches important to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, such as the search for endogenous biological response modifiers that control cytokine function or production, attempts to synthesize heterocyclic compounds in the organic chemistry lab, and research regarding second messenger pathways involved in IL-1 and TNF production are examined. This book will provide anyone in cytokine research, especially clinical investigators, pharmaceutical industry researchers, and academic research scientists, with important information on how cytokine research might be used.
