Center for Vascular and Inflammatory Diseases, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
J Innate Immun. 2012;4(5-6):478-88. doi: 10.1159/000336025. Epub 2012 Mar 21.
The concept that macrophages play an active role in inflammatory responses began its development in the late 1800s with the now iconic studies by Elie Metchnikoff using starfish larvae and Daphnia [reviewed in Kaufmann SHE: Nat Immunol 2008;9:705-712 and Cavaillon JM: J Leukoc Biol 2011;90:413-424]. Based on his observation of the phagocyte response to a foreign body (rose thorn) and yeast, he proposed that phagocytes acted in host defense and were active participants in the inflammatory process. Flash forward more than 100 years and we find that these basic tenets hold true. However, it is now appreciated that macrophages come in many different flavors and can adopt a variety of nuanced phenotypes depending on the tissue environment in which the macrophage is found. In this brief review, we discuss the role of one type of macrophage termed the alternatively activated macrophage (AAM), also known as the M2 type of macrophage, in regulating allergic lung inflammation and asthma. Recent studies using mouse models of allergic lung inflammation and samples from human asthma patients contribute to the emerging concept that AAMs are not just bystanders of the interleukin (IL)-4- and IL-13-rich environment found in allergic asthma but are also active players in orchestrating allergic lung disease.
巨噬细胞在炎症反应中发挥积极作用的观点始于 19 世纪末期，当时以 Elie Metchnikoff 为代表的研究人员利用海星幼虫和水蚤进行了具有里程碑意义的研究[详见 Kaufmann SHE：Nat Immunol 2008；9:705-712 和 Cavaillon JM：J Leukoc Biol 2011；90:413-424]。基于他对吞噬细胞对外来物体（玫瑰刺）和酵母的吞噬反应的观察，他提出吞噬细胞在宿主防御中起作用，是炎症过程的积极参与者。时间快进 100 多年，我们发现这些基本原理仍然适用。然而，现在人们认识到，巨噬细胞有多种不同的类型，可以根据巨噬细胞所处的组织环境，表现出多种不同的表型。在这篇简短的综述中，我们讨论了一种称为“替代激活的巨噬细胞（AAM）”的巨噬细胞类型在调节过敏性肺炎症和哮喘中的作用。最近使用过敏性肺炎症的小鼠模型和来自人类哮喘患者的样本进行的研究，有助于形成一种新的概念，即 AAMs 不仅是过敏性哮喘中富含白细胞介素（IL）-4 和 IL-13 的环境的旁观者，而且还是协调过敏性肺病的积极参与者。
