Immunometabolic regulation of inflammation, autoimmunity, and infectious diseases: immune mediated mechanisms of metabolic syndrome

The immune system and metabolic pathways are deeply interconnected, forming a complex regulatory network that influences health and disease. Over the past decade, the emerging field of immunometabolism has revealed how metabolic alterations can shape immune cell development, activation, effector functions, and resolution of inflammation.

Conversely, immune responses profoundly influence systemic and cellular metabolism, creating bidirectional interactions that determine disease susceptibility and outcomes. Beyond systemic effects, tissue- and cell-specific metabolic programs (well described in the context of cancer) can locally shape immune cell activation and differentiation, for example through altered metabolite secretion by tumor cells that reprograms the surrounding immune microenvironment.

Metabolic disorders such as diabetes type 1, obesity and metabolic syndrome are characterized by chronic low-grade inflammation and immune dysfunction.
These alterations have been implicated not only in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases but also in the development and progression of autoimmune conditions and infectious diseases.

Increasing evidence suggests that metabolic reprogramming of immune cells influences tolerance, autoimmunity, host defense, tissue damage, and recovery processes.

The intersection between immunometabolism, inflammation, and disease has become particularly relevant in the context of infections. Metabolic status can affect susceptibility to pathogens, disease severity, immune-mediated pathology, and therapeutic responses. Likewise, infectious agents can induce profound metabolic changes that contribute to chronic inflammation, immune dysregulation, and long-term complications.

Similar mechanisms are increasingly recognized in autoimmune disorders, where alterations in cellular metabolism regulate the balance between pro-inflammatory and regulatory immune responses.

Despite significant advances, many questions remain unanswered regarding the molecular mechanisms linking metabolism to immune function across diverse pathological conditions. A deeper understanding of these processes may reveal novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets capable of modulating immune responses while restoring metabolic homeostasis.


This Research Topic aims to bring together basic, translational, and clinical studies that explore the immunometabolic mechanisms underlying inflammation, autoimmunity, and infectious diseases. We particularly encourage interdisciplinary contributions that bridge immunology, metabolism, microbiology, parasitology, molecular biology, and clinical medicine.

Potential areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
• Immunometabolic regulation of innate and adaptive immune responses;
• Metabolic reprogramming of immune cells during inflammation;
• Chronic low-grade inflammation and disease pathogenesis;
• Immunometabolic mechanisms in autoimmune diseases;
• Tissue- and cell-specific metabolic programs shaping immune cell activation and differentiation, including tumor cell metabolite secretion and the immune microenvironment;
• Host-pathogen interactions and metabolic control of immunity;
• Immunometabolism in bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections;
• Sepsis, systemic inflammation, and metabolic adaptation;
• Trained immunity and metabolic memory;
• Mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and inflammatory signaling;
• Cytokine networks and metabolic control of immune responses;
• Gut microbiota, metabolism, and immune homeostasis;
• Biomarkers of immunometabolic dysfunction and novel therapeutic strategies targeting immune-metabolic pathways;
• Experimental models and translational approaches in immunometabolism.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: immunometabolism, microbiota–immune crosstalk, gut-host interactions, type 1 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, low-grade inflammation, metabolic reprogramming, infectious diseases, autoimmune metabolism

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.