Patents in targets and drugs for unbalanced cytokine and chemokine network mediated disorders.

A wide range of pathologies are affected by unbalanced cytokine production namely autoimmune, metabolic and infectious diseases. The intrinsic regulation of the pathways involved are very complex, as they include incomplete described intracellular signaling pathways and the pleiotropic cytokine balance within the inflammatory mediators network. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) is considered a key cytokine for the development of diverse pathologies. A wide range of strategies was developed to treat syndromes, including administration of anti-inflammatory cytokines and blockade of main inflammatory molecules such as TNFalpha. Some intracellular signaling pathways may be common to the regulation of diverse pro-inflammatory components and are also focused as therapeutic target to regulate immune responses. Here, we discuss international bibliography related to unbalanced cytokine mediated disorders and patent literature disclosing methods and products for their treatment.