Background: 

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) the cytokine described first, have attracted particular research interest lately in part due to its peculiar enzymatic tautomerase activity. It has been proposed, that MIF signal transduction might involve enzymatic modification of target proteins and/or of small effector molecules. The ability of MIF to counteract the antiinflammatory effect of corticosteroids makes it a promising therapeutic target.

Aims and Results: 

The exact biological role of the enzymatic activity of MIF is still not fully understood yet. Despite of this fact MIF tautomerase is considered today as one of the most promising pharmacologic target of the future therapy for more than a dozen inflammatory conditions. Hence intense pharmaceutical R&D activity is going on world wide in this field. Our own results have revealed that certain plant derived antiinflammatory chemicals deserve attention as rather potent in vitro MIF tautomerase inhibitors. Ketone bodies and acetaminophen also come up to this list. The latest promising enzyme inhibitor data obtained with synthetic molecules urge us to continue our work toward designing better lead molecules for MIF inhibition. We have also described suppressed serum MIF levels with chicory coffee consumption.

Conclusion: 

With the words of Thierry Calandra this "Most Interesting Factor" must be further investigated concerning the mechanisms of its proinflammatory, angiogenic and tumor promoting activities.