Immunological mediators.

As a central mediator of inflammation, cachectin is an isolated target for pharmacotherapeutic intervention. It has been demonstrated that mice treated with a polyclonal antiserum directed against mouse cachectin become resistant to the lethal effect of lipopolysaccharide. Thus, it would seem possible that neutralizing monoclonal antibodies directed against human cachectin may prove to be useful in the treatment of sepsis and septic shock, particularly in its early stages. Once it becomes possible in vivo to quantify cellular activation and production of these cytokines, the development of septic and possibly traumatic shock will be easier to monitor and more rational therapeutic approaches will be found.