Macrophage activation has long been implicated in a myriad of human pathophysiology, particularly in the context of the dysregulated capacities of an unleashing intracellular or/and extracellular inflammatory response.
A growing number of studies have functionally coupled the macrophages’ inflammatory capacities with dynamic metabolic reprogramming which occurs during activation, albeit this has been largely limited to a classic metabolism function perspective; macrophages take advantage of the rewired metabolism as a source of energy and for biosynthetic precursors. However, a specific subset of metabolic products, namely immune-modulatory metabolites, has recently emerged as significant regulatory signals which control inflammatory responses in macrophages and the relevant extracellular milieu.
In this review, we introduce recently highlighted fuel metabolites with immunomodulatory functions, with the aim of understanding their physiological and pathological relevance in the macrophage inflammatory response.