The complex regulation and biology of TNF (cachectin).

Cachectin (tumor necrosis factor) and lymphotoxin have been studied intensively over the past 3 years and have been shown to initiate a broad spectrum of biological responses. In addition to their ability to induce hemorrhagic necrosis of certain transplantable animal tumors, these molecules have been shown to be highly toxic and to mediate many aspects of the host inflammatory response. When produced in large quantities, cachectin is capable of inducing a shock state that closely resembles endotoxin-induced shock; when chronically secreted, cachectin causes a wasting syndrome very similar to that observed in infectious and neoplastic diseases. Both cachectin and lymphotoxin may play a critical role in a variety of human disease states.