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Review
. 2021 Oct:91:153712.
doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2021.153712. Epub 2021 Aug 19.

Cascade of immune mechanism and consequences of inflammatory disorders

K B Megha  1 , X Joseph  1 , V Akhil  1 , P V Mohanan  2
Affiliations
Review

Cascade of immune mechanism and consequences of inflammatory disorders

K B Megha et al. Phytomedicine. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Inflammatory responses arise as an outcome of tissues or organs exposure towards harmful stimuli like injury, toxic chemicals or pathogenic microorganism. It is a complex cascade of immune mechanism to overcome from tissue injury and to initiate the healing process by recruiting various immune cells, chemical mediators such as the vasoactive peptides and amines, pro-inflammatory cytokines, eicosanoids and acute-phase proteins to prevent tissue damage and ultimately complete restoration of the tissue function. The cytokines exhibits a central function in communication between the cells, inflammatory response initiation, amplification and their regulation. This review covers the importance of inflammatory responses; the significance of cytokines in inflammation and numerous inflammatory disorders/ailments due to the abrupt expression of cytokines and the hyper-inflammatory response or cytokine storm associated with poor prognosis in COVID-19 pandemic. Also highlighting the importance of naturally derived anti-inflammatory metabolites to overcome the side-effects of currently prevailing anti-inflammatory drugs.

Keywords: Cytokines; Inflammatory response; Interferon; Interleukins.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Figures

Image, graphical abstract
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1:
Fig. 1
Inflammatory response mediated after an injury.
Fig. 2:
Fig. 2
Stimulus induction and biological effects of cytokines.
Fig. 3:
Fig. 3
Action of cytokines on the target cells.
Fig. 4:
Fig. 4
Target cells and effects of cytokines.
Fig. 5:
Fig. 5
The illustration of cytokine networking between different cell types in the immune system and their molecular communication.
Fig. 6:
Fig. 6
Representation of receptor families (Anwikar and Bhitre, 2010).
Fig. 7:
Fig. 7
Schematic representation of events leading to ‘cytokine storm’ in COVID-19.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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