Macrophages are key innate immune effector cells best known for their role as professional phagocytes, which also include neutrophils and dendritic cells. Recent evidence indicates that macrophages are also key players in metabolic homoeostasis. Macrophages can be found in many tissues, where they respond to metabolic cues and produce pro- and/or anti-inflammatory mediators to modulate metabolite programmes. Certain metabolites, such as fatty acids, ceramides and cholesterol crystals, elicit inflammatory responses through pathogen-sensing signalling pathways, implicating a maladaptation of macrophages and the innate immune system to elevated metabolic stress associated with overnutrition in modern societies. The outcome of this maladaptation is a feedforward inflammatory response leading to a state of unresolved inflammation and a collection of metabolic pathologies, including insulin resistance, fatty liver, atherosclerosis and dyslipidaemia. The present review summarizes what is known about the contributions of macrophages to metabolic diseases and the signalling pathways that are involved in metabolic stress-induced macrophage activation. Understanding the role of macrophages in these processes will help us to develop therapies against detrimental effects of the metabolic syndrome.
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March 2012
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Review Article|
February 13 2012
Role and function of macrophages in the metabolic syndrome
Prerna Bhargava;
Prerna Bhargava
1Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases, Department of Nutrition, Division of Biological Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, U.S.A.
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Chih-Hao Lee
Chih-Hao Lee
1
1Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases, Department of Nutrition, Division of Biological Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, U.S.A.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email clee@hsph.harvard.edu).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
September 23 2011
Revision Received:
November 15 2011
Accepted:
November 16 2011
Online ISSN: 1470-8728
Print ISSN: 0264-6021
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2012 Biochemical Society
2012
Biochem J (2012) 442 (2): 253–262.
Article history
Received:
September 23 2011
Revision Received:
November 15 2011
Accepted:
November 16 2011
Citation
Prerna Bhargava, Chih-Hao Lee; Role and function of macrophages in the metabolic syndrome. Biochem J 1 March 2012; 442 (2): 253–262. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BJ20111708
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