Premium
Cytokines and fungal infections
Author(s) -
Antachopoulos Charalampos,
Roilides Emmanuel
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2141.2005.05498.x
Subject(s) - medicine , immunology , microbiology and biotechnology , intensive care medicine , biology
Summary The very poor outcome of invasive fungal infections (IFI) in patients with haematological malignancies or recipients of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation is largely attributed to their compromised host defence mechanisms. The restoration or augmentation of immune responses in these patients is now considered as one of the cornerstones of effective antifungal therapy. Major advances in the field of experimental immunology have provided insight on the important regulatory role of cytokines in both innate and adaptive immunity to fungal pathogens. Preclinical studies have convincingly demonstrated that immunomodulation with cytokines can enhance the antifungal activity of neutrophils and monocytes/macrophages as well as upregulate protective T‐helper type 1 adaptive immune responses. Evidence on the clinical use of cytokines in immunocompromised hosts with IFI is, however, still scant and inconclusive. The present review summarizes experimental and clinical data on the role of cytokines in the immune response to fungal pathogens and on their potential use for prevention or treatment of fungal infections. Implications for future research are also briefly discussed.