Research Topic · Peer-Reviewed

Cytokines

Cytokines are small proteins secreted by cells, particularly cells of the immune system such as lymphocytes and macrophages, that act as chemical messengers to coordinate the body's responses to infection, injury, and inflammation. By binding to specific receptors on target cells, cytokines regulate the growth, acti…

Curated from this journal's research 📚 12 peer-reviewed articles cited Cited 36× across the literature 🗓 Reviewed June 2026

Overview

Cytokines are small proteins secreted by cells, particularly cells of the immune system such as lymphocytes and macrophages, that act as chemical messengers to coordinate the body's responses to infection, injury, and inflammation. By binding to specific receptors on target cells, cytokines regulate the growth, activation, and communication of immune cells and influence many physiological processes, including the initiation and resolution of inflammation. They encompass families such as interleukins, interferons, tumor necrosis factors, and chemokines, and their balance is critical: appropriate cytokine signaling defends the body against pathogens, while excessive or dysregulated production can drive chronic inflammation and contribute to disease. Research collected on this page reflects the breadth of cytokine biology, including the association of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interleukin-1-beta with gestational diabetes, measurement of interleukin-8 and interleukin-17 in pregnant women with toxoplasmosis, cytokine profiling in COVID-19 patients, the relationship between vagus nerve stimulation and pain-related cytokine levels, and cytokine expression in cattle at different stages of infection. Together these peer-reviewed, open-access studies illustrate how cytokines are measured and interpreted across infection, pregnancy, and inflammatory disease. This page gathers research relevant to cytokines and immune signaling.

Research published in this journal

12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.

How this research is being cited

The 12 articles above have been cited 36 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.

A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Cytokines, linking to each citing work.

Editorial oversight

Curated from peer-reviewed research published in International Journal of Cytokine.

Journal editorial board
Nicola Squillace · Italy Stephanie Filleur · United States Natalya Zotova · Russia

This page summarises published research for orientation; it is not medical or professional advice.