Research highlight
Natural inflammation suppressor
Nature Immunology
October 11, 2010
Interleukin 37 (IL-37) — a chemical mediator of the immune system — can suppress inflammation, according to a report published online in Nature Immunology.
IL-37 is a member of the IL-1 family of proteins, which more commonly are known to trigger inflammation and are targets for intervention in chronic inflammatory diseases. Charles Dinarello and colleagues show that IL-37 does not elicit inflammation. Instead, IL-37 suppresses expression of multiple inflammatory mediators and can prevent septic shock in a mouse model.
Better understanding of how IL-37 dampens this inflammatory signaling network could provide insights to treatment of inflammatory disease.
doi: 10.1038/ni.1944
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