Abstract
The rapid accumulation and activation of inflammatory cells at the sites of delayed hypersensitivity reactions is crucial for the host's immune defense against microbial and possibly neoplastic diseases. A concept that has proven to be useful for understanding the mechanisms of cell-mediated immunity is that activated lymphocytes synthesize and release soluble products, termed lymphokines, that mediate inflammatory cell accumulation and activation. The dysfunction of lymphokine production might be associated with abnormal cell-mediated immunity. The measurement of lymphokine production has been of clinical value in several areas, including (1) the determination of antigens to which a host has been sensitized, (2) providing possible explanations for the mechanism of tissue damage in certain diseases, and (3) the elucidation of the mechanisms of certain immunodeficiency states. This chapter describes several assays of lymphokine production that have proven useful in clinical investigations and that provide evidence that such measurements may be helpful in better understanding the pathophysiology of some human diseases. The chapter presents new insights into the diagnosis and treatment of immunologically related disorders.
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