Do cytokines cause more severe courses of a disease?
When RIG-I comes into contact with a virus gene, it does two things. On the one hand, it ensures that certain immune cells produce pro-interleukin, the precursor of interleukin 1, en masse. At the same time it activates an enzyme via a complicated signalling pathway which transforms pro-interleukin into interleukin 1. “This interleukin 1 then ensures that the typical symptoms of a virus infection such as fever or shivering occur,” Professor Veit Hornung from the Bonn University Clinic explains. As yet the researchers do not know how important this newly discovered immune mechanism is for the successful defence against the virus. The release of interleukin may also have negative consequences. “There is the hypothesis that an overproduction of cytokines may lead to extremely severe courses of virus diseases,” Professor Gunther Hartmann says. Medicines that prevent such a ‘cytokine storm’ may therefore alleviate the progress of the disease.
