Summary
Platelets actively participate in inflammatory processes and drive diseases such as
atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer metastasis. However, platelets also
have anti-inflammatory and anti-infective properties, which have received less consideration
in the past. In this review, we highlight recent findings on the role of platelets
in host defense and describe regulatory pathways modulating immuneresponses. Furthermore,
we discuss the role of platelets for the resolution of inflammation and tissue repair.
These conceptual changes contribute to our understanding of platelet biology in disease.
Keywords
Platelet immunology - Inflammation - platelet physiology - sepsis - leukocyte function
/ activation