Inflammatory cytokine

**Inflammatory cytokines** are a group of small signaling proteins secreted primarily by immune cells such as macrophages and helper T cells that promote and regulate inflammation. They include molecules like interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β), interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF‐α), interferon gamma (IFNγ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). These mediators play a central role in initiating and sustaining the body’s immune response to infection or injury but can also drive chronic inflammation when dysregulated. Excessive or prolonged production is implicated in numerous diseases including autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular conditions, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases. Therapeutic strategies often target individual inflammatory cytokines or their receptors using monoclonal antibodies or small-molecule inhibitors; however, “inflammatory cytokine reduction” itself is not a single molecular target but rather describes an overall therapeutic strategy aimed at lowering levels/activity of one or more pro-inflammatory mediators[5][1][7]. > **Note:** “Inflammatory cytokine reduction” is not a canonical molecular target but rather refers broadly to decreasing the activity/concentration of multiple different molecules within this class. For structured data purposes it should be mapped instead to specific targets such as "Interleukin 6", "Tumor necrosis factor alpha", etc.[5]

Other names

Proinflammatory cytokinepro-inflammatory cytokineinflammatory mediator (general)cytokines (when referring to the inflammatory subset)

Neutralization of specific pro-inflammatory cytokines by monoclonal antibodies[2][6] Blockade of cytokine receptors[2][6] Inhibition of intracellular signaling pathways involved in cytokine production or action (e.g., JAK/STAT pathway inhibition)[2]