CYTOKINES AND FEVER

Fever is one of the best examples of responses to injury and infection which depends on neuroimmune interactions. Cytokines function as medi ators of fever, acting locally within damaged tissues, circulating fac tors and the brain. The primary endogenous pyrogens. IL-1, IL-6 and TN F-alpha act at each of these sites and interact with nervous and endoc rine systems to modify host defence responses. Understanding the role and mechanisms of cytokine actions in fever is relevant to many other aspects of neuroimmunology, and host responses to pathological challen ges.