A research group at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, in collaboration with California University, Tsukuba University, Chiba University, and Soak Institute, found that anti-inflammatory unsaturated fatty acids produced by macrophages are important for converging the inflammatory response. Revealed.It is said that it will lead to the development of new treatment and prevention methods for lifestyle-related diseases.
The development of treatment / prevention methods for lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity and diabetes has become a major issue.Lifestyle-related diseases are said to develop on the basis of "chronic inflammation" in which inflammation does not converge and is prolonged, but the mechanism of chronic inflammation has not been clarified.
Macrophages are immune cells with various functions and play an important role in the pathogenesis of lifestyle-related diseases.When these macrophages are indirectly stimulated to cause inflammation, they are activated to promote an inflammatory response.It was found that this stimulation reduces the function of the nuclear receptor (LXR), stops the synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids that suppress inflammation, and macrophages show the function of promoting inflammation.However, in the late stage of the inflammatory response (24 hours after stimulation), the transcription factor (Srebp1) acts to increase the synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, which was once reduced.It was found that the action of this unsaturated fatty acid suppresses the inflammatory response and activity of macrophages, and the inflammation tends to converge. It was also found that the deficiency of Srebp1 causes the inflammatory response to not converge well or to prolong, but it converges properly when given unsaturated fatty acids.
Here, we find that macrophage lipid metabolism and its function in inflammation are closely regulated, and that unsaturated fatty acids produced by macrophages are important for the proper convergence of inflammation.In the future, it is expected to develop new treatment / prevention methods for lifestyle-related diseases targeting the lipid metabolism (synthesis and decomposition) of macrophages.
