The role of macrophages in the growth and the progression of tumors has been extensively studied in recent years. A large body of data demonstrates that macrophage polarization plays an essential role in the growth and progression of brain tumors, such as gliomas, meningiomas, and medulloblastomas. The brain neoplasm cells have the ability to influence the polarization state of the tumor associated macrophages. In turn, innate immunity cells have a decisive role through regulation of the acquired immune response, but also through humoral cross-talking with cancer cells in the tumor microenvironment. Neoangiogenesis, which is an essential element in glial tumor progression, is even regulated by the tumor associated macrophages, whose activity is linked to other factors, such as hypoxia. In addition, macrophages play a decisive role in establishing the entry into the bloodstream of cancer cells. As is well known, the latter phenomenon is also present in brain tumors, even if they only rarely metastasize. Looking ahead in the future, we can imagine that characterizing the relationships between tumor and tumor associated macrophage, as well as the study of circulating tumor cells, could give us useful tools in prognostic evaluation and therapy. More generally, the study of innate immunity in brain tumors can boost the development of new forms of immunotherapy.

The intricate relationships between innate immunity and brain diseases raise increased interest across the wide spectrum of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. Barriers, such as the blood–brain barrier, and innate immunity cells such as microglia, astrocytes, macrophages, and mast cells are involved in triggering disease events in these groups, through the action of many different cytokines. Chronic inflammation can lead to dysfunctions in large-scale brain networks. Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and frontotemporal dementia, are associated with a substrate of dysregulated immune responses that impair the central nervous system balance. Recent evidence suggests that similar phenomena are involved in psychiatric diseases, such as depression, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The present review summarizes and discusses the main evidence linking the innate immunological response in neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases, thus providing insights into how the responses of innate immunity represent a common denominator between diseases belonging to the neurological and psychiatric sphere. Improved knowledge of such immunological aspects could provide the framework for the future development of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

Calcific Aortic Valve Disease (CAVD) is the most common valvular heart disease in developed countries and in the ageing population. It is strongly correlated to median age, affecting up to 13% of the population over the age of 65. Pathophysiological analysis indicates CAVD as a result of an active and degenerative disease, starting with sclerosis and chronic inflammation and then leaflet calcification, which ultimately can account for aortic stenosis. Although CAVD has been firstly recognized as a passive event mostly resulting from a degenerative aging process, much evidences suggests that calcification arises from different active processes, involving both aortic valve-resident cells (valve endothelial cells, valve interstitial cells, mesenchymal stem cells, innate immunity cells) and circulating cells (circulating mesenchymal cells, immunity cells). Moreover, a role for the cell-derived “matrix vesicles” and extracellular matrix (ECM) components has also been recognized. The aim of this work is to review the cellular and molecular alterations occurring in aortic valve during CAVD pathogenesis, focusing on the role of ECM in the natural course of the disease.

Recent studies have clarified many still unknown aspects related to innate immunity and the blood-brain barrier relationship. They have also confirmed the close links between effector immune system cells, such as granulocytes, macrophages, microglia, natural killer cells and mast cells, and barrier functionality. The latter, in turn, is able to influence not only the entry of the cells of the immune system into the nervous tissue, but also their own activation. Interestingly, these two components and their interactions play a role of great importance not only in infectious diseases, but in almost all the pathologies of the central nervous system. In this paper, we review the main aspects in the field of vascular diseases (cerebral ischemia), of primitive and secondary neoplasms of Central Nervous System CNS, of CNS infectious diseases, of most common neurodegenerative diseases, in epilepsy and in demyelinating diseases (multiple sclerosis). Neuroinflammation phenomena are constantly present in all diseases; in every different pathological state, a variety of innate immunity cells responds to specific stimuli, differentiating their action, which can influence the blood-brain barrier permeability. This, in turn, undergoes anatomical and functional modifications, allowing the stabilization or the progression of the pathological processes.

Context Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is associated with a higher intestinal expression of the glucose transporters sodium/glucose cotransporter 1 (SGLT-1) and glucose transporter 2 (GLUT-2). It is currently unsettled whether prediabetes conditions characterized by postprandial hyperglycemia, such as impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and normal glucose tolerance (NGT) with 1-hour postload glucose ≥155 mg/dL (8.6 mmol/L) (NGT-1h-high) are associated with increased expression of these glucose carriers in the intestine. Objective We evaluated whether duodenal abundance of SGLT-1 and GLUT-2 is augmented in subjects with IGT and NGT-1h-high, in comparison with subjects with NGT and 1-hour postload glucose ˂155 mg/dL (NGT-1h-low). Design Cross-sectional. Patients A total of 54 individuals underwent an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Main Outcome Measures Duodenal SGLT-1 and GLUT-2 protein and messenger RNA levels were assessed by Western blot and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Results Of the 54 subjects examined, 18 had NGT-1h-low, 12 had NGT-1h-high, 12 had IGT, and 12 had T2DM. Duodenal SGLT-1 protein and messenger RNA levels were significantly higher in individuals with NGT-1h-high, IGT, or T2DM in comparison with NGT-1h-low subjects. GLUT-2 abundance was higher in individuals with T2DM in comparison with NGT-1h-low subjects; no substantial increase in GLUT-2 expression was observed in NGT-1h-high or IGT individuals. Univariate correlations showed that duodenal SGLT-1 abundance was positively correlated with 1-hour postload plasma glucose levels (r = 0.44; P = 0.003) but not with fasting or 2-hour postload glucose levels. Conclusions Duodenal SGLT-1 expression is increased in individuals with 1-hour postload hyperglycemia or IGT, as well as in subjects with T2DM, and it positively correlates with early postload glucose excursion.