Pathophysiological, role of cytokines in congestive heart failure

Heart failure is a complex neurohumoral and inflammatory syndrome. Recent s tudies have shown that proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1, interleuki n-2, interleukin-6, interleukin-10, and tumor necrosis factor) are involved in cardiac depression and in the complex syndrome of heart failure. Unders tanding the involvement of these cytokines may enable us to reverse cardiac depression and heart failure by the use of monoclonal antibodies directed against specific cytokines to block the downhill progression of heart failu re.