Those Crazy Cytokines

            When they heard that the sheriff was taking a vacation, what kept them in line was not knowing exactly when the patrol would be resumed.

            But a little freedom soon went to their heads.  Normally, cytokines are necessary messenger-bearers.  The good ones do their jobs and deliver important news in a timely fashion.  The renegades are the problem.

            Perhaps through the force of long-imposed rules issuing from the sheriff, the cytokines worked mostly by the book at first.  The news that the sheriff was extending his holiday, though, eventually eroded their self-control.  Some of them started to run rather than walk.  Others thought it amusing to make deliveries at their own whim.  There were even a few who ran around crazily, bumping into the responsible ones and sending them careering off in unintended directions.

            What they didn’t know eventually cut them short and restored order:  even though the sheriff was gone, command headquarters was closely monitoring the situation.  When she saw their renegade activity increasing, she acted quickly and called the sheriff.  He made his appearance at high noon, and by four p.m. the worst offenders were rounded up and set aright.

            Command headquarters then made a strategic error.  Believing all was in control, she let the sheriff take the next day off.  Those crazy cytokines wasted no time in resuming their misbehavior.  Little do they know that another showdown is scheduled today at noon and, in fact, will be repeated every single day at noon from this day forward.  Order shall be restored.

           

*Now, in case you do not realize that you have just read an allegory, let me reveal the true identity of the cast of characters:  cytokines = cytokines (molecular messengers that regulate inflammatory response--which can be translated here as pain control), sheriff = Celebrex, command headquarters = Janis.