Q. I edit medical textbooks in which series of closely related abbreviations are used often. For example, a chapter might discuss interleukins 1, 2, 3, and 4, abbreviated IL-1, IL-2, IL-3, IL-4. How would I introduce the abbreviation IL (for “interleukin”) into the following sentence: “Local osteolytic hypercalcemia is caused by locally produced osteoclast-activating cytokines, including interleukin 1, interleukin 6, and interleukin 8.”
A. You could write, “Local osteolytic hypercalcemia is caused by locally produced osteoclast-activating cytokines, including interleukin 1 (IL-1), IL-6, and IL-8.”