CYTOKINES AS DETERMINANTS OF DISEASE AND DISEASE INTERACTIONS

The immune response to pathogens results in both host resistance and K ey words immunopathology. Cytokines and in particular those lymphokine s Cytokines produced by Th1 and Th2 cells play a key role in determini ng the balance between these two immunologic outcomes. Recent data sug gest that interleukin-10, a product of both Th2 cells and macrophages, protects the host against excessive immunopathology. The cytokine env ironment generated by different pathogens may also influence the cours e and outcome of infections with unrelated organisms. This relationshi p may be particularly important in the case of HIV-1 where prior Th1 o r Th2 biases established by helminth or intracellular infections may i nfluence either initial viral susceptibility or drive progression to A IDS through immune activation.