Metformin, Macrophage Dysfunction and Atherosclerosis

Xiaojun Feng; Wenxu Chen; Xiayun Ni; Peter J Little; Suowen Xu; Liqin Tang; Jianping Weng

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2021.682853

Back

Metformin, Macrophage Dysfunction and Atherosclerosis

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Metformin, Macrophage Dysfunction and Atherosclerosis

Xiaojun Feng, Wenxu Chen, Xiayun Ni, Peter J Little, Suowen Xu, Liqin Tang and Jianping Weng

Frontiers in Immunology, Vol.12, pp.1-28

2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.682853

PMCID: PMC8215340

PMID: 34163481

Files and links (2)

pdf

Metformin, Macrophage Dysfunction and Atherosclerosis1.66 MBDownload View

Published Version Open Access CC BY V4.0

url

https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.682853View

Published Version Open

Abstract

Immunology

atherosclerosis

combination medication

metformin

macrophage

NETs

Metformin is one of the most widely prescribed hypoglycemic drugs and has the potential to treat many diseases. More and more evidence shows that metformin can regulate the function of macrophages in atherosclerosis, including reducing the differentiation of monocytes and inhibiting the inflammation, oxidative stress, polarization, foam cell formation and apoptosis of macrophages. The mechanisms by which metformin regulates the function of macrophages include AMPK, AMPK independent targets, NF-κB, ABCG5/8, Sirt1, FOXO1/FABP4 and HMGB1. On the basis of summarizing these studies, we further discussed the future research directions of metformin: single-cell RNA sequencing, neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), epigenetic modification, and metformin-based combination drugs. In short, macrophages play an important role in a variety of diseases, and improving macrophage dysfunction may be an important mechanism for metformin to expand its pleiotropic pharmacological profile. In addition, the combination of metformin with other drugs that improve the function of macrophages (such as SGLT2 inhibitors, statins and IL-1β inhibitors/monoclonal antibodies) may further enhance the pleiotropic therapeutic potential of metformin in conditions such as atherosclerosis, obesity, cancer, dementia and aging.

Details

Title: Metformin, Macrophage Dysfunction and Atherosclerosis
Authors: Xiaojun Feng (Author) - University of Science and Technology of China
Wenxu Chen (Author) - University of Science and Technology of China
Xiayun Ni (Author) - University of Science and Technology of China
Peter J Little (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Suowen Xu (Author) - University of Science and Technology of China
Liqin Tang (Author) - University of Science and Technology of China
Jianping Weng (Author) - University of Science and Technology of China
Publication details: Frontiers in Immunology, Vol.12, pp.1-28
Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation
Date published: 2021
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.682853
ISSN: 1664-3224
PMID: 34163481; PMC8215340
Copyright note: Copyright © 2021 Feng, Chen, Ni, Little, Xu, Tang and Weng. 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) and the copyright owner(s) 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.
Organisation Unit: School of Health; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99548404702621
Output Type: Journal article

Metrics

36 Record Views

124 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Immunology

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

Source: SDGs from InCites