CYTOKINES AND IMMEDIATE ALLERGY - CONTROL OF THE LATE-PHASE

The study of late phase response to allergen provides a good opportuni ty to understand the mechanism of allergic inflammation. One of the mo st important issues is the role of cytokines in controlling the cellul ar aspects of late phase response following allergen challenge. There is some evidence that pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1, IL-6 or TNF-alpha initiate inflammatory mechanisms and probably induce a seco nd wave of cytokine production. Multiple cytokines are involved in the expression of adhesion molecules by endothelial cells leading to arre st circulating inflammatory cells which can therefore migrate towards tissue. Other cytokines, named chemokines because of their chemoattrac tant properties, contribute to the recruitment of inflammatory cells a t the site of allergic response. These various aspects of the late pha se response combined with recent experimental data are reported.