Cytokines in laboratory medicine

: A cytokine was first recognized in 1965, and many kinds of cytokines have been found since then. Cytokines are the biologically active substances which are produced in immuno-competent cells, macrophages and monocytes, excluding immunoglobulins. They form complex networks among themselves, and mainly act locally. A single cytokine may have physiological actions to many different cells, while a certain physiological action may be shared by many different cytokines. Some of them could be now quantitated immunochemically by using highly sensitive immunoassays. Therefore, immunoassay of some cytokines may become very important in laboratory medicine.