Metabolic Regulation of Inflammation

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Inflammation and the related immune responses are energetically expensive processes, defending against pathogens and maintaining tissue homeostasis. As a result, immune response and metabolic regulation are highly integrated, allowing organisms to adapt to changes in their internal and external environments. Many nutrient- and pathogen-sensing system share common signaling pathways and have been evolutionarily conserved. Studies over the past decade have demonstrated that inflammation is a key feature of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and various cardiovascular disease states. In the context of over nutrition, shifts in tissue metabolism are accompanied with waves of profound recruitment of inflammatory cells (monocytes and lymphocytes) and high proliferation rates among lymphocyte populations. In this chapter, we review recent work addressing metabolic control of inflammation and immunity as well as the molecular aspects of metabolic inflammation converging to insulin resistance. It is crucial to explore the question of causality between the state of chronic inflammation and metabolic dysfunctions seen in obesity, and therefore developing effective therapeutic strategies to cope with the current worldwide obesity epidemic.