Published in Current opinion in pharmacology
Macrophages are immune myeloid cells with an extreme ability to modulate their phenotype in response to insults and/or pathogens. The immunomodulatory capacity of macrophages is also patent during development as they adapt their phenotype to the host tissue environment establishing the heterogeneous populations of tissue-resident macrophages. An im...
Published in Current opinion in pharmacology
Glucocorticoids (GCs) are steroid hormones characterized by their anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive nature. Although GCs are very commonly prescribed, in several diseases, including sepsis, their clinical treatment is hampered by side effects and by the occurrence of glucocorticoid resistance (GCR). Sepsis is defined as a life-threatening org...
Published in Current opinion in pharmacology
Bile acids are produced in the liver by the cholesterol breakdown and further metabolized by the intestinal microbiota to generate a group of chemically heterogeneous steroids that bind and activate a family of cells surface and nuclear receptors, collectively known as the bile acid-activated receptors (BARs). The two best characterized members of ...
Published in Current opinion in pharmacology
Glucocorticoids (GCs) are widely used immunomodulators. They regulate gene expression by binding and activating the Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR), but underlying transcriptional mechanisms remain enigmatic. This review summarizes recent findings identifyingspecific GR-bound DNA sequences whose configuration may affect transcriptional output. Additio...
Published in Current opinion in pharmacology
Liver X receptors (LXRs) are transcription factors from the nuclear receptor family that can be pharmacologically activated by high-affinity agonists. LXR activation exerts a combination of metabolic and anti-inflammatory actions that result in the modulation of immune responses and in the amelioration of inflammatory disorders. In addition, LXR ag...
Published in Current opinion in pharmacology
Osteoclasts are bone-resorbing cells that play an essential role in the remodeling of bone under physiological conditions and numerous pathological conditions, such as osteoporosis, bone metastasis, and inflammatory bone erosion. Nuclear receptors are crucial to various physiological processes, including metabolism, development and inflammation, an...
Published in Current opinion in pharmacology
Macrophages are key immune cells that reside in almost all tissues of the body, where they exert pleiotropic functions in homeostasis and disease. Development and identity of macrophages in each organ are governed by tissue-dependent signaling pathways and transcription factors that ultimately define specific tissue-resident macrophage phenotypes a...
Published in Current opinion in pharmacology
Detrimental age-associated changes in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue increase the risk of sarcopenia. Age-related changes in myokines, such as myostatin and irisin, as well as adipokines, such as leptin and adiponectin, contribute to cross-talk between muscle and adipose tissue. These age-related changes in myokines and adipokines have importan...
Published in Current opinion in pharmacology
This review addresses the impact of bariatric surgery on the endocrine aspects of white adipose tissue, muscle and the liver. We describe literature supporting the notion that adipokines, myokines and hepatokines likely act in concert and drive many of the long-term metabolic improvements following surgery. Circulating adiponectin is increased whil...
Published in Current opinion in pharmacology
