IL-34 是一种细胞因子，十年前发现，已知是集落刺激因子 CSF-1 受体 (CSF-1R) 配体。与 CSF-1R 一起，它还与 Syndecan-1 受体和蛋白酪氨酸磷酸酶 (PTP-ζ) 相互作用。因此，IL-34 由于参与不同的信号传导途径而参与多种生物活性。本综述旨在分析最近关于IL-34在疾病进展中的功能的研究。通过回顾当前数据来研究 IL-34 在生理和病理环境下的作用。近十年来，研究表明IL-34参与炎症性疾病、感染、移植排斥、自身免疫性疾病、神经系统疾病和癌症等疾病状态的调节。一般来说，IL-34 与许多严重的健康疾病有关，如代谢疾病、心脏病、感染甚至癌症。因此，IL-34可以被视为治疗靶点、潜在的生物标志物或治疗工具，应该在未来的研究活动中进行评估。

IL-34, a cytokine, discovered a decade before and is known to be a colony stimulating factor CSF-1 receptor (CSF-1R) ligand. Along with CSF-1R, it also interacts with syndecan-1 receptors and protein-tyrosine phosphatase (PTP-ζ). Hence, IL-34 takes part in a number of biological activities owing to its involvement in different signaling pathways. This review was done to analyze the recent studies on the functions of IL-34 in progression of diseases. The role of IL-34 under the physiological and pathological settings is studied by reviewing current data. In the last ten years, studies suggested that the IL-34 was involved in the regulation of morbid states such as inflammatory diseases, infections, transplant rejection, autoimmune diseases, neurologic diseases, and cancer. In general, the involvement of IL-34 is observed in many serious health ailments like metabolic diseases, heart diseases, infections and even cancer. As such, IL-34 can be regarded as a therapeutic target, potential biomarker or as a therapeutic tool, which ought to be assessed in future research activities.