Combination of two danger signals (microorganisms and xenobiotics) is the principal cause of activation of chronic inflammatory processes

Abstract

Chronic inflammatory diseases are of long duration, during which remissions alternate with exacerbations. Until recently, it was believed that the occurrence and activation of a chronic inflammatory process is caused by one danger signal, usually by microorganisms. Taken together, our own and the published data show that the activation of an inflammatory process is associated with the accumulation of macrophages in an inflammatory focus and their subsequent hyperactivation as a result of the combination of two danger signals—microorganisms and xenobiotics.