科研之友
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摘要
Alterations of hormonal systems during chronic inflammatory states have been observed in human disease and animal models of diseases. Emerging concepts over the last decades show that these alterations may not be regarded as separate. They are merely the consequence of a generalised reconfiguration of regulatory body systems during inflammation (hormonal, nervous, and immune). This review tries to characterise the deeper meaning of this adaptation process, which is called "inflammatory configuration". This adaptational process during inflammation is important for optimisation of the fight against infectious "intruders". This goal is reached first and foremost by two measures: (i) depending on the duration of inflammation, the local inflammatory process gets more and more independent from systemic regulation so that local proinflammatory mechanisms prevail; (ii) since the activated immune system needs a lot of energy, securing the energy supply is of outstanding importance, which is part of the inflammatory reconfiguration of the body systems. These mechanisms have been developed during evolution for one reason: the acute fight against infectious intruders. Therefore, the organism has no means to end these processes as long as a reason for inflammation remains (e. g. persisting autoantigen, defects in regulatory mechanisms, loss of tolerance). Due to the chronic catabolic state (continuous energy supply to the immune system) and the ongoing propagation of local inflammation (local tissue destruction), several negative consequences arise (catabolism, cachexia, high blood pressure, water retention, diabetogenic metabolic state, etc.). Using hormonal dysregulation as an example (HPA axis and sex hormones), we explain these concepts in detail in this review.
- 出版日期2013-8
