ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the relevance of the findings to the situation of human septic shock. It describes the members of the group of anti-inflammatory cytokines suppressing the responses to endotoxin. Interleukin-10 is a 18 kDa protein containing two intramolecular disulfide bonds. It is acid-labile and appears in soluble form as a homodimer. The macrophage-deactivating properties of IL-10 led several investigators to examine whether this cytokine is able to modulate the inflammatory response induced by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in vivo. Endotoxin shock is considered to be a good model of fulminant meningococcal septic shock in which the release of large amounts of bacterial products in the circulation triggers the rapid, massive, and transient production of cytokines. Monocyte deactivation observed in patients with septic shock is analogous to a phenomenon called LPS tolerance.
