It has been well established that the presence of diabetes is accompanied by a chronic inflammatory state promoting various diabetes-associated complications. One potential driver of this enhanced inflammatory state in patients with diabetes is hyperglycemia. Even after blood glucose control is achieved, diabetes-associated complications persist, suggesting the presence of a "hyperglycemic memory.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiabetes is associated with increased cardiovascular risk and higher occurrence of infections. These complications suggest altered responses of the innate immune system. Recent studies have shown that energy metabolism of monocytes is crucial in determining their functionality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStimulation of monocytes with microbial and non-microbial products, including oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL), induces a protracted pro-inflammatory, atherogenic phenotype sustained by metabolic and epigenetic reprogramming via a process called trained immunity. We investigated the intracellular metabolic mechanisms driving oxLDL-induced trained immunity in human primary monocytes and observed concomitant upregulation of glycolytic activity and oxygen consumption. In two separate cohorts of healthy volunteers, we assessed the impact of genetic variation in glycolytic genes on the training capacity of monocytes and found that variants mapped to glycolytic enzymes PFKFB3 and PFKP influenced trained immunity by oxLDL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: C-type lectin receptors, including Dectin-2, are pattern recognition receptors on monocytes and macrophages that mainly recognize sugars and sugar-like structures present on fungi. Activation of C-type lectin receptors induces downstream CARD9 signalling, leading to the production of cytokines. We hypothesized that under hyperglycaemic conditions, as is the case in diabetes mellitus, glycosylated protein (sugar-like) structures activate C-type lectin receptors, leading to immune cell activation and increased atherosclerosis development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScope: Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) is an intestinal commensal with anti-inflammatory properties both in the intestine and other organs. The aim is to investigate the effects of oral administration of A.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInflammatory reactions activated by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) on the membrane of innate immune cells play an important role in atherosclerosis. Whether the PRRs of the C-type lectin receptor (CLR) family including Dectin-2 may be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis remains largely unknown. Recently, the CLR-adaptor molecule caspase recruitment domain family member 9 (CARD9) has been suggested to play a role in cardiovascular pathologies as it provides the link between CLR activation and transcription of inflammatory cytokines as well as immune cell recruitment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrained immunity is a recently described phenomenon whereby innate immune cells undergo functional reprogramming in response to microbial products, vaccines, or other stimuli, leading them to mount a sensitized nonspecific response to subsequent stimulation. While it is essential for the host response to pathogens, many diseases are the product of excessive or chronic inflammation. Atherosclerosis is a disease characterized by chronic low-grade inflammation of the arterial wall leading to plaque formation, where macrophages are the most abundant cell regulating plaque progression and stability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiabetes strongly predisposes to cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of mortality in these patients, as well as in the entire population. Hyperglycemia is an important cardiovascular risk factor as shown by the observation that even transient periods of hyperglycemia, despite return to normoglycemia during follow-up, increase the risk for CVD, a phenomenon termed 'hyperglycemic memory'. The molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain largely unknown.
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