Regulation of Inflammatory Reaction in Health and Disease

Int J Mol Sci. 2021 May 17;22(10):5277. doi: 10.3390/ijms22105277.

Abstract

Inflammation is a key mechanism for the clearance of infective agents and other inflammatory triggers and is pivotal for the repairing processes of the affected tissues. Inflammation is a multistep process driven by a great number of mediators which regulate specific aspects of the inflammatory response, in agreement with a well-defined chronobiological program. A great number of inflammation-related diseases show a deeply altered immune chronobiology (e.g., COVID-19-related cytokines storm). This aspect highlights the need for a deeper understanding of the inflammatory phenomenon. It is fundamental to study inflammation as a multilevel phenomenon. Of particular interest is the low-grade chronic inflammation, which is an etiological factor of many chronic diseases. Nowadays, the therapeutic approach to low grade chronic inflammation is one of the great challenges of traditional pharmacology. Currently, no drugs specifically designed for the treatment of chronic inflammatory forms are available. Today, bioregulatory systems medicine (BrSM) and low dose medicine (LDM), two pharmacological paradigms grounded in systems medicine, potentially represent new tools for the treatment of inflammation-related diseases. Scientific research has assessed the effectiveness and safety of both these therapeutic approaches, in particular for the management of chronic inflammatory conditions and chronic immunological dysregulations.

Keywords: low dose medicine; low grade chronic inflammation; psycho-neuro-endocrine-immunology; systems medicine (SM).

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Acute Disease
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents / pharmacology*
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents / therapeutic use
  • COVID-19 / immunology
  • COVID-19 / metabolism*
  • COVID-19 / physiopathology
  • Chronic Disease / drug therapy
  • Cytokine Release Syndrome / metabolism*
  • Cytokines / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Inflammation / drug therapy
  • Inflammation / immunology
  • Inflammation / metabolism*
  • Inflammation / physiopathology
  • Systems Analysis*

Substances

  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents
  • Cytokines