REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Inflammation
Progress of alveolar macrophages in biological function and acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Pediatrics, Daping Hospital,, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
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Alveolar macrophages (AMs), a type of immune cell, display remarkable plasticity and manifest diverse responses to stimuli by differentiating into distinct subgroups. These phenotypically distinct macrophage subtypes are primarily categorized as either classically activated or inflammatory (M1) macrophages, or alternatively activated or anti-inflammatory (M2) macrophages, the differentiation of which is underpinned by a complex regulatory network. Despite their crucial contribution to the pathobiology of acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS), the research on AMs is currently limited. This study therefore aims to establish a comprehensive theoretical framework delineating the pathogenic role of AMs in ALI/ARDS, facilitating deeper mechanistic understanding of disease initiation and progression in ALI/ARDS and ultimately identifying novel therapeutic targets.
Keywords: Acute Lung Injury, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Macrophages, cell polarization, Cell Death
Received: 11 Aug 2025; Accepted: 31 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yan, Tang, Liu and Hu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jia Tang, tangjia369@tmmu.edu.cn
Yanfei Liu, liuyanfei@tmmu.edu.cn
Zhangxue Hu, huzhangxue@tmmu.edu.cn
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