Is Resolution the End of Inflammation?

Abstract

Deciphering the origins of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases remains elusive with reliance on therapies aimed at halting inflammation in its tracks. In recent years, an appreciation of targeting pathways by which inflammation is resolved has begun to rouse interest. Resolution of inflammation is driven by a complex set of mediators that regulate cellular events required to clear inflammatory cells from sites of infection or injury to restore tissue function. However, recent studies suggest that resolution is not the end of innate mediated immune responses to infection/injury. There is further immunological activity occurring after the resolution cascade is complete that alters the immune physiology of tissues, redefining what was once termed restorative homeostasis as adapted homeostasis.

Keywords: adapted homeostasis; autoimmunity; chronic inflammation; post-resolution; resolution.