A new direction in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis?

Respiratory Research

Table 1 Transfer of cytokines by adenovirus vector to the rodent lung

Cytokine	Degree of inflammation	TGF-β	Myofibroblasts	Fibrosis
IL-1β	Acute +++; alveolar destruction	400 pg/ml	+++	++++
TNF-α	Acute +++	150 pg/ml	+	+
GM-CSF	Acute ++	600 pg/ml	++	++
TGF-β₁	Minimal to absent	>50 ng/ml	++++	++++

Degree of inflammation ranges from 0 to ++++, with 0 representing no detectable inflammation by morphologic examination to ++++ where there is extensive inflammatory cell accumulation throughout the parenchyma and lumen of the lung. Similar ranges are used for myofibroblast presence and extent of fibrosis. GM-CSF = granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor; IL = interleukin; TGF = transforming growth factor; TNF = tumour necrosis factor.

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