Topics covered will include how the
immune system and commensal microbes interact in the context of health and disease; how dendritic cells respond to infectious or inflammatory stimuli and the roles they play in the induction and polarization of
adaptive immune responses against pathogens; how the innate
immune pathways
regulate inflammation at mucosal barrier tissue sites and how the macrophages are involved in intestinal inflammation.
In addition to playing an important role in
regulating body weight by promoting satiety and increasing energy consumption, leptin has been identified as a major proinflammatory cytokine involved in innate and
adaptive immune responses (38).