Cytokine related therapies for autoimmune disease.

In short, manipulation of cytokine pathways shows promise as a mean to tilt the balance of immunity toward tolerance. Effective and regulatory T cells vary in their response to a variety of cytokines. In particular, the ability of certain cytokines, for example, IL-2, to provide vital survival signals to regulatory cells and to trigger death of effector T cells or impede IL-15 driven expansion of memory cells has spurred several trials. The ability of IFNgamma, IL-4, TNFalpha, and lymphotoxin to exert selective effects upon crucial lymphocyte subset populations in vivo may also enable translation into potent therapies.