Cytokines and feeding

Abstract

Various categories of cytokines participate in the control of feeding, including interleukin-1 and -6 and other activators of gp 130, leptin (ob protein), interleukin-8 and other chemokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interferon-alpha. These feeding-inhibitory cytokines may play a role in the regulation of food intake during physiological (eg a role proposed for leptin) and pathophysiological (eg proinflammatory cytokines) conditions. Data show that various cytokines participate in acute and chronic disease-associated anorexia such as during infection, inflammation or malignancy. Food intake suppression (reported as anorexia) is also a common central manifestation observed during cytokine immunotherapy in humans. The concept of local production of various cytokines within specific brain regions in response to peripheral challenges and pathophysiological processes has broad implications for the interpretation of brain cytokines as mediators or participants in CNS modulation of feeding and anorexia.