Premium
Interferon‐gamma and resistance to bacterial infections
Author(s) -
CZARNIECKI CHRISTINE W.,
SONNENFELD GERALD
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
apmis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0903-4641
DOI - 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1993.tb00073.x
Subject(s) - microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , interferon gamma , immunology , virology , biology , cytokine
Since its initial description as an antiviral, it has become clear that Interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) has potent immunoregulatory and cell growth regulatory activities. As a result of these additional activities, it is now apparent that IFN‐γ plays a major role in regulation of bacterial infections. IFN‐γ can be both induced by bacteria and bacterial products; endogenous IFN‐γ production has been shown to play a protective role in the natural host response to several bacterial infections; and administration of exogenous IFN‐γ is effective in the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections in numerous animal model systems. Although it is now clear that IFN‐γ plays a role in regulation of bacterial infections, the mechanisms of its anti‐bacterial effects in vivo remain to be established due to the pleiotropic nature of IFN‐γ activity.