[Properties of interleukin 8 and its correlation with inflammatory diseases and malignant neoplasia]

Inflammation is a vital consequence of tissue injury caused by various reasons including invasion of foreign particles, infection with microorganisms, autoimmune responses, ischemia-reperfusion injury, and malignant neoplasia. In 1987, a major neutrophil chemotactic and activating factor, now called interleukin 8 (IL-8), was purified and molecularly cloned. In this article, general overview of IL-8 was made describing biochemical structure, regulation of production of IL-8, properties of the receptors for IL-8 and pathophysiological roles of IL-8 in inflammation.