The great scientific progress in our understanding of the genetics, chemistry, biology and pathophysiology of the cytokines has made clear the need for a comprehensive discussion of these molecules as part of a unified system. The Cytokine Network and Immune Functions provides just such a treatment. It represents the efforts of many of the most prominent scientists studying these molecules. Not only does it present a general discussion of each of the major cytokines or sets of cytokines; it deals in detail with how these molecules affect all aspects of immune function, and how they contribute to a wide range of pathological conditions. As the title clearly indicates, this book does not treat individual cytokines in isolation; it recognizes that they act in a complex web of synergistic and counter-regulatory effects so as to provide opportunities for the very fine control of immune responses.
Cytokine biology is not only a fascinating scientific discipline, giving insight into how the immune and inflammatory systems are linked and regulated, but also it is a subject of profound importance in modern medicine. As the chapters in the section of this book entitled Cytokines in Pathology indicate, virtually all insults to the organism, be they r ste or chronic, call upon cytokine responses and virtually every disease entity has a component involving the function of cytokines. In some diseases, such as allergy and asthma and many of the autoimmune disorders, ‘abnormal’ cytokine responses are at the very heart of the disease process; in others, their impact may be more peripheral. There can be no doubt, however, that the study of cytokine biology has contributed greatly to the growing power of molecular medicine, transforming our approach to disease and building a new armamentarium of drugs and other treatments that promise to revolutionize our capacity to control a wide range of disease states.
