The developing role of cytokines for imaging inflammation and infection

The diagnosis of inflammatory processes is an important goal in medicine. I n some cases the diagnosis is easy, based on the clinical history and the p hysical examination of the patient. Other cases are more difficult to diagn ose because they are asymptomatic or with non-specific symptoms. Thus, seve ral imaging techniques have been developed for the diagnosis of inflammator y processes, from the simple X-ray to the more sophisticated computerised t omography, magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear medicine scan. They provi de different information and their role in different diseases will be discu ssed in this review with particular emphasis on the expanding field of the use of radiolabelled cytokines for imaging infection/inflammation. So far, IL-1, IL-1ra, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12 p40, G-CSF, IFN-gamma and EGF have been radiolabelled for in vivo targetting of different leukocyte subse ts with promising results for their clinical use. (C) 2000 Academic Press.