Question: how do inflammatory molecules affect blood cell production

Gemma Barron answered on 11 Nov 2015:

Hi @Will Grange,

Thank you for your interesting question. Let me start by saying that inflammation (which is our bodies response to harmful stimuli, e.g., fighting against diseases, trying to repair damaged cells and fighting against chemical or environmental irritants) is a natural and protective response that involves our immune cells, blood vessels and inflammatory molecules. The purpose of this inflammation is to eliminate the initial cause of cell injury, clear out the dead cells and damaged tissues and start tissue repair. Inflammation and the presence of inflammatory molecules in our blood does not affect the production of blood cells but it does increase the movement of blood to the injured cell or tissue in order to repair the damage quickly. This is known as acute inflammation. What I’m interested in is looking into another type of inflammation called chronic inflammation. This is prolonged inflammation which is a state commonly found in obese individuals and it leads to increased levels of inflammatory molecules present in their blood systems. Again it does not affect blood cell production but, the increased presence of inflammatory molecules can be linked to increased risk of developing cancer, diabetes, and/or cardiovascular disease in obese individuals and I’m trying to investigate why this is happening.
I hope that answers your question. Thanks, Gemma