Cited by 171Liver physiology and pathologyImmune cells in cancerLiver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment

Macrophages in the Aging Liver and Age-Related Liver Disease

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Stahl, Elizabeth C., Haschak, Martin J., Popovic, Branimir, Brown, Bryan N.·2018·Frontiers in Immunology

Abstract

The number of individuals aged 65 or older is projected to increase globally from 524 million in 2010 to nearly 1. 5 billion in 2050. Aged individuals are particularly at risk for developing chronic illness, while being less able to regenerate healthy tissue and tolerate whole organ transplantation procedures. In the liver, these age-related diseases include non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease, hepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis. Hepatic macrophages, a population comprised of both Kupffer cells and infiltrating monocyte derived macrophages, are implicated in several chronic liver diseases and also play important roles in the homeostatic functions of the liver. The effects of aging on hepatic macrophage population dynamics, polarization, and function are not well understood. Studies performed on macrophages derived from other aged sources, such as the bone marrow, peritoneal cavity, lungs, and brain, demonstrate general reductions in autophagy and phagocytosis, dysfunction in cytokine signaling, and altered morphology and distribution, likely mediated by epigenetic changes and mitochondrial defects, that may be applicable to hepatic macrophages. This review highlights recent findings in macrophage developmental biology and function, particularly in the liver, and discusses the role of macrophages in various age-related liver diseases. A better understanding of the biology of aging that influences hepatic macrophages and thus the progression of chronic liver disease will be crucial in order to develop new interventions and treatments for liver disease in aging populations.

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  • Pro-inflammatory Kupffer cell activation is thought to contribute to age-related liver disease and to infectious diseases such as hepatitis.

    “Activation of Kupffer cells to a pro-inflammatory state is thought to be a driver not only of ageing-related liver disease, such as non-alcoholic liver disease, cirrhosis and fibrosis, but also in the pathogenesis of infectious diseases such as hepatitis54.”

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Authors
Stahl, E. C., Haschak, M. J., Popovic, B., & Brown, B. N.
Affiliations
University of Pittsburgh (US)
Corresponding author
Brown, Bryan N.
Venue
Frontiers in Immunology
Published
2018-11-30
Volume
9
Pages
2795-2795
ISSN
1664-3224 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2903340170
Cited by
171
References
160
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 7
FWCI
1.89
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Frontiers in Immunology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute on Aging (R01AG055564)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (F31DK112633)
  • National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (T32EB001026)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Hepatology › Liver physiology and pathology
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immune cells in cancer
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment
Keywords
hepatic macrophages, Kupffer cells, monocyte-derived macrophages, macrophage polarization, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease, liver fibrosis, liver cirrhosis, autophagy, phagocytosis, epigenetic modifications, mitochondrial dysfunction, chronic liver disease
MeSH terms
Aging, Animals, Autophagy, Humans, Kupffer Cells, Liver Diseases, Phagocytosis, Signal Transduction, Cytokines

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