Inflammatory rheumatic disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and connective tissue diseases, are characterized by chronic inflammation that generally can be overcome by lifelong administration of immunosuppressive therapies. In most of these diseases, factors of genetic predisposition have been described, in particular the influence of distinct HLA haplotypes. In addition, environmental ...

OBJECTIVES A growing body of evidence emerges that obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease are intimately related to chronic inflammation. METHODS A narrative review summarizing the most recent data of the literature describing the pathological implications of inflammation in obese patients with cardiometabolic disorders. RESULTS Besides high-sensitive C-reac...

The inflammatory response is modulated through interactions among the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. Intercommunication between immune cells and the autonomic nervous system is a growing area of interest. Spatial and temporal information about inflammatory processes is relayed to the central nervous system (CNS) where neuroimmune modulation serves to control the extent and intensity of...

Enteric microflora profiles vary considerably between active inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and healthy conditions. Intestinal microflora may partake in the pathogenesis of IBD by one or some ways: specific pathogenic infection induces abnormal intestinal mucosal inflammation; aberrant microflora components trigger the onset of IBD; abnormal host immune response loses normal immune tolerance...

Diversity and plasticity are two hallmarks of macrophages. M1 macrophages (classically activated macrophages) are pro-inflammatory and have a central role in host defense against infection, while M2 macrophages (alternatively activated macrophages) are associated with responses to anti-inflammatory reactions and tissue remodeling, and they represent two terminals of the full spectrum of macroph...

Theories explaining the etiopathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been proposed ever since Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) were recognized as the two major forms of the disease. Although the exact cause(s) and mechanisms of tissue damage in CD and UC have yet to be completely understood, enough progress has occurred to accept the following hypothesis as valid: I...

1Graduate Institute of Integrated Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, Research Center for Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan 2Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40447, Taiwan 3Department of Psychology, College of Medical and Health Science, Asia University, Taichung 41354, Taiwan 4University of California ...

The debate on whether infection precipitates or prevents autoimmunity remains a contentious one. Recently the suggestion that some unknown microbe can be at the origin of some chronic inflammatory diseases has been countered by accumulating evidence that decreasing infection rates might have an important role to play in the rising prevalence of autoimmune disorders. The 'Hygiene Hypothesis' was...

In genetically susceptible individuals, an altered mucosal immune response against some commensal bacteria of the gut ecosystem appears to be the principal mechanism leading to intestinal lesions in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The information currently available does not provide an exact explanation about the origin of this important dysfunction of the interaction between host and commens...