Talk:Cytokine
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[edit] Introduction restructuring
Could an intro be added in plain language for the lay reader? I see the term "cytokine" frequently in health news but after reading this page I'm still totally mystified. Is it a drug? 207.107.246.20 14:31, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
- This is a very valid comment. That's probably one of the most unreadable intros I've seen in biological articles on wiki... Someone should reword it. Loss of jargon doesn't have to mean loss of content. The Meaning of Liff 20:59, 6 June 2006 (UTC)
- I've been looking around for a nice intro to cytokines as well and found some more info in other languages for the same entry in wikipedia. Maybe the following could be added to the intro:
Cytokines are less widely known signalling chemicals that like hormonones and neurotransmitters are used extensively for inter-cell communication. While hormones are secreted from specific organs to the blood, and neurotransmitters are related to neural acitivity, the cytokines is a more diverse class of compounds in terms of origin and purpose. Cytokines are critical to the functioning of both innate and adaptive immune responses. Apart from their role in the development and functioning of the immune system, and their aberrant modes of secretion in a variety of immunological, inflammatory and infectious diseases, cytokines are also involved in several developmental processes during embryogenesis. They are produced by a wide variety of haemopoietic and non-haemopoietic cell types and can have effects on both nearby cells or throughout the organism, sometimes strongly dependent on the presence of other chemicals. The Cytokine family is mainly consisting of smaller? proteins or glycoproteins (proteins with an added sugar chain) with a mass of 8-30 kDa.
and for an overview maybe adding some tables like the spanish would be a good idea:
| Cytokine | Action | Synthesis | Inductor | Important actions |
| IL-1 | Proinflamatoric | Células mononucleares | Microbiana o activación cascada inflamatoria (CI) | Pirógeno |
| IL-2 | Antiinflamatoria | linfocitos Th colaboradores | Sustancias microbianas o activación de CI | factores de crecimiento de células T induciendo a la proliferación de todos los tipos de subpoblaciones linfocitarias. Estimula síntesis de interferón liberación de IL-1, TNF-α y beta |
| IL-4 | Antiinflamatorio | Linfocitos Th, mastocitos y basófilos | Desconocido | Bloquea síntesis de citocinas, inhibe la síntesis de NO |
| IL-6 | Proinflamatoria- antiinflamatoria |
Monocitos, macrógafos, célula endotelial y fibrobalstos | Il-1 y endotoxinas | Pirógeno, síntesis de inmunoglobulinas. Activación de la síntesis de de proteínas de fase aguda |
| IL-8 | Proinflamatoria | Monocitos, macrófagos, célula endoltelias y fibroblastos | IL-1,TNF-alfa y endotoxinas | Factor quimiotáctico y activador de neutrófilos |
- KristianMolhave 22:18, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Receptor interaction
"Cytokines act by binding to their well specific cytokine receptor". - Is this correct, or should well read cell (or wall)?
S.
[edit] Lymphokines
If lymyphokines are a sub-set of cytokines, then how can the former be discovered in the 1960s, and the latter in the 1970s (according to the article)?
- Uhh, the members may have been discovered before the terminology came in vogue. Do you have any historical pointers? JFW | T@lk 21:33, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Major revision
The cytokine topic was totally outdated, and contained a number of abstract, quite irrelevant information. I've completely rewritten the topic to provide a more encyclopaedic approach. I have used British Spelling in the article. If the reader's eyes are irritated, he or she is welcome to change it to American Spellings.
I have also deleted the section on cytokine history, as it really has very little to offer. As to the specific functions of various cytokines, even an encyclopaedia may not be enough to contain all the functions. But, I'll soon put up a separate article containing a table of their important functions.--Balaji 10:39, 14 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Apart from...
- "Apart from their importance in the development and functioning of the immune system, cytokines play a major role in a variety of immunological, inflammatory and infectious diseases."
Is it just me, or wouldn't anything involving the immune system automatically play a role in the progress (or lack thereof) of immunological, inflammatory, and infectious diseases? The first mention doesn't just mention a healthy immune system, so perhaps that could be specified, or simply delete the latter? I'm not sure why the distinction is made. Tyciol 10:00, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] proposed 'Research' section
Hello all - this is a paragraph added yesterday by Langrl2 as the second section of the article.
- Recent research indicates that cytokines, a group of chemicals that are produced by various cells in the body, may be responsible for generating the response of pain. Medications that affect the release of cytokines or block the action of cytokines may reduce the pain response. Various anti-cytokine medications are now being used to treat painful disease states such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Crohn's Disease. In this study the anti-cytokine medication, Thalidomide, is being evaluated for its effect in treating pain associated with Arachnoiditis.
I've welcomed the user and asked him/her to join the discussion. BaseballBaby 15:03, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
