Cytokines

Apart from single-celled organisms, any living organism is made up of millions of cells. These cells are the units of life and they carry out different functions within the body. Cells are of different types and Immune sales are one such type of cell. To communicate, cytokines are used by an immune cell. Cytokines can be defined as a set of proteins secreted from the immune system cells. These function as chemical messengers. Cytokines secreted from one particular cell affect the activities of other cells through efficiently binding to receptors present on the surface. The receptors receive the chemical message from the cytokines, and the cell which receives this message performs activities according to this message. 

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Different types of Cytokines

Cytokines are normally seen to be of several types. The different variety of cytokines include interferons, chemokines, the factor of tumor necrosis, lymphokines, and interleukins. These can function against one another, the function alone, or function together. However, the final role of cytokines is facilitating the regulation of the immune response. Cytokines are seen to be involved in several aspects of immunity and inflammation. Further cytokines can be held responsible for triggering several familiar symptoms that occur when the body is fighting different types of infection such as pain, inflammation, and fever. Different types of cytokines as well as the

Cytokines storm symptoms

A cytokine storm can be defined as a condition during which an exceptional quantity of cytokines (certain chemicals manufactured within the immune system of the body) are released in the stream of blood within a very short period. This results in the creation of an overabundance of this particular chemical. There are several symptoms as well as signs that indicate the condition of the Cytokine storm. These have been outlined in the following. 

• Redness of skin
• Exceptionally high fever.
• Swelling of the skin or some particular body part.,
• Severe fatigue 
• Severe nausea

The prospect of how severe the associated symptoms will depend on the affected person as well as his physical conditions. In extreme cases of cytokine storms, the affected individual may face organ failure. Hence the disease of cytokine storm can become life-threatening in these cases. 

There are several reasons why a cytokine storm can occur in an individual. One of the most severe reactions by the immune system of the body involves the occurrence of the infection of autoimmune conditions, COVID-19, or various other diseases. Cytokines storms can also occur as a result of different types of immunotherapy. One such immunotherapy that can lead to cytokine storm is the immunotherapy of CAR-T cells. 

Cytokine Storm in COVID

Before the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the previous two decades, coronavirus was known to mankind for especially two major pandemics. These were SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in 2003 as well as MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) in 2012. However, the COVID-19 pandemic faced in 2020 and 2021 is an extremely infectious as well as pathogenic disease. This was caused by the virus SARS-COV-2. Quarantine measures were taken throughout the globe to control the spread of this virus. Despite this, the virus spread rapidly throughout the globe without any specific thr=erapy to remedy this. However, recently the spread of the virus has been halted due to the presence of vaccines in different countries as well as the presence of vaccination programs. For instance, by 2021’s June, the virus has caused one-seventy million infections and nearly 3.7 million confirmed deaths throughout the world, but most patients having this virus had mild symptoms as well as a good prognosis whereas some patients were found to develop serious complications. 

In this context, the concept of the Cytokine storm is important. From Medical Evidence it is visible that Cytokine Storm in COVID causes ARDS which is a major reason behind mortality. Cytokine storm occurs due to the overabundance of cytokines within the bloodstream caused due to some non-infectious or infectious disease or some particular kind of therapy. Excessive amounts of cytokines in the bloodstream can cause uncontrolled immune response thereby damaging lung tissue as well as developing multi-organ failure. Hence, suppressing the cytokine storm is vital for the reduction of mortality in COVID-19 patients

Conclusion 

Throughout the article, the core topic of cytokines has been discussed. This topic has huge importance in the subject of Immunology. The core topic has been further discussed under several subtopics namely cytokine storm symptoms, cytokines storms in COVID, and cytokines symptoms in covid-19 that occur on which day.