Fig. 3.7 Infection stimulates macrophages to release cytokines and chemokines that initiate an inflammatory response. Cytokines produced by tissue macrophages at the site of infection cause the dilation of local small blood vessels and changes in the endothelial cells of their walls. These changes lead to the movement of leukocytes, such as neutrophils and monocytes, out of the blood vessel (extravasation) and into the infected tissue; this movement is guided by chemokines produced by the activated macrophages. The blood vessels also become more permeable, allowing plasma proteins and fluid to leak into the tissues. Together, these changes cause the characteristic inflammatory signs of heat, pain, redness, and swelling at the site of infection.
Fig. 3.8 Monocytes circulating in the blood migrate into infected and inflamed tissues. Adhesion molecules on the endothelial cells of the blood vessel wall capture the monocyte and cause it to adhere to the vascular endothelium. Chemokines bound to the vascular endothelium then signal the monocyte to migrate across the endothelium into the underlying tissue. The monocyte, now differentiating into an inflammatory monocyte, continues to migrate, under the influence of chemokines released during inflammatory responses, toward the site of infection. Monocytes leaving the blood are also able to differentiate into dendritic cells (not shown), depending on the signals that they receive from their environment.
called F4/80. Monocytes are also able to give rise to dendritic cells in the tissues, depending on signals that they receive from their environment. In the later stages of inflammation, other leukocytes such as eosinophils and lymphocytes also enter the infected site.
The third major change in local blood vessels is an increase in vascular permeability. Thus, instead of being tightly joined together, the endothelial cells lining the blood vessel walls become separated, leading to an exit of fluid and proteins from the blood and their local accumulation in the tissue. This accounts for the swelling, or edema, and pain—as well as the accumulation in tissues of plasma proteins such as complement and MBL that aid in host defense. The changes that occur in endothelium as a result of inflammation are known generally as endothelial activation. The fourth change, clotting in microvessels in the site of infection, prevents the spread of the pathogen via the blood.
These changes are induced by a variety of inflammatory mediators released as a consequence of the recognition of pathogens by macrophages, and later by neutrophils and other white blood cells. Macrophages and neutrophils secrete lipid mediators of inflammation—prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and platelet-activating factor (PAF)—which are rapidly produced by enzymatic pathways that degrade membrane phospholipids. Their actions are followed by those of the chemokines and cytokines that are synthesized and secreted
Pattern recognition by cells of the innate immune system.
by macrophages and inflammatory monocytes in response to pathogens. The cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α, also known simply as TNF), for example, is a potent activator of endothelial cells. We describe TNF-αand related cytokines in more detail in Section 3-15.
Besides stimulating the respiratory burst in phagocytes and acting as a chemoattractant for neutrophils and monocytes, C5a also promotes inflammation by increasing vascular permeability and inducing the expression of certain adhesion molecules on endothelium. C5a also activates local mast cells (see Section 1-4), which are stimulated to release their granules containing the small inflammatory molecule histamine as well as TNF-α and cathelicidins.