Department of Pathology, University Hospital of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland.
Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation Unit, Giannina Gaslini Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare, 16147 Genoa, Italy.
Cells. 2021 Mar 9;10(3):603. doi: 10.3390/cells10030603.
Macrophages are involved in tissue homeostasis. They participate in inflammatory episodes and are involved in tissue repair. Macrophages are characterized by a phenotypic heterogeneity and a profound cell plasticity. In the kidney, and more particularly within glomeruli, macrophages are thought to play a maintenance role that is potentially critical for preserving a normal glomerular structure. Literature on the glomerular macrophage role in human crescentic glomerulonephritis and renal transplantation rejection with glomerulitis, is sparse. Evidence from preclinical models indicates that macrophages profoundly modulate disease progression, both in terms of number-where depletion has resulted in a reduced glomerular lesion-and sub-phenotype-M1 being more profoundly detrimental than M2. This evidence is corroborated by better outcomes in patients with a lower number of glomerular macrophages. However, due to the very limited biopsy sample size, the type and role of macrophage subpopulations involved in human proliferative lesions is more difficult to precisely define and synthesize. Therefore, specific biomarkers of macrophage activation may enhance our ability to assess their role, potentially enabling improved monitoring of drug activity and ultimately allowing the development of novel therapeutic strategies to target these elusive cellular players.
巨噬细胞参与组织稳态。它们参与炎症发作，并参与组织修复。巨噬细胞的特点是表型异质性和细胞可塑性强。在肾脏中，特别是在肾小球内，巨噬细胞被认为起着维持作用，对于维持正常的肾小球结构可能至关重要。关于肾小球巨噬细胞在人类新月体肾小球肾炎和伴有肾小球肾炎的肾移植排斥反应中的作用的文献很少。临床前模型的证据表明，巨噬细胞在数量上显著调节疾病进展-耗竭导致肾小球病变减少-和亚表型上-M1 比 M2 更具危害性。这一证据得到了肾小球巨噬细胞数量较少的患者预后更好的证实。然而，由于活检样本量非常有限，涉及人类增殖性病变的巨噬细胞亚群的类型和作用更难以准确确定和综合。因此，巨噬细胞激活的特异性生物标志物可能增强我们评估其作用的能力，有可能改善对药物活性的监测，并最终允许开发针对这些难以捉摸的细胞靶点的新治疗策略。
