The role of the colony-stimulating factors in resistance to acute infections.

A set of specific glycoproteins, the colony-stimulating factors, has been identified as regulating granulocyte and macrophage production and function. These colony-stimulating factors have now been purified and mass produced by recombinant technology. These versatile regulators are capable of providing the body both with an ultrarapid and sustained system for responding to infections. The granulocytes, macrophages and eosinophils involved in these responses appear likely to be key cell populations ensuring adequate resistance to acute infections and the colony-stimulating factors may prove to be valuable agents in the clinic for increasing resistance to life-threatening infections particularly in immunologically compromised patients.