Inflammation integrates diverse mechanisms that are associated not only with
pathological conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obesity,
neurodegenerative diseases and cancer, but also with physiological processes like
reproduction i.e., oogenesis and embryogenesis as well as aging. In the current review,
we propose that the inflammatory response could also recapitulate the phylogenia and
the ontogenia. Highly conserved inflammatory mechanisms that play a main role in the
evolutive development of different animal species, both invertebrates as well as
vertebrates are identified. In this way, inflammation could represent a key tool used by
nature to modulate organisms according to the environmental conditions in which these
develop. Thus inflammation could be the pathway by which the environmental
conditions could be related to the evolutionary development. The hypothetical
consideration of inflammation as recapitulation of phylogenia and ontogenia could
make it possible to integrate the pathophysiological mechanisms of these diverse
chronic pathological conditions.
Keywords: Surgical inflammation, evo-devo, phylogenia, ontogenia, acute phase
response, ischemia, hydration, catabolism, lipoprotein-related metabolism,
vitellogenesis, metaflammation.
