During inflammation, what is being produced?

• A. Cytokines
• B. Hormones
• C. Antibodies
• D. Growth factors

Answer: (A)

During inflammation, signaling proteins called cytokines are produced. Immune and resident tissue cells release cytokines such as interleukins, TNF, and interferons in response to pathogens or injury, coordinating the response by increasing vascular permeability, promoting leukocyte recruitment, and guiding immune cell activity. They can act locally or systemically to drive fever and acute-phase reactions, making cytokines the key mediators of the inflammatory process.

Hormones are endocrine signals acting systemically and are not the primary products driving inflammation. Antibodies are made by B cells as part of the adaptive immune response after antigen exposure, not the immediate inflammatory signaling. Growth factors aid tissue repair and remodeling and can be involved later in healing, rather than the immediate inflammatory signaling.