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The importance of metabolism in the course of SARS-Cov-2 infection is highlighted by the metabolic comorbidities of COVID-19. In this Perspective, Ayres provides insight into how current knowledge of immunometabolism and metabolic diseases can inform the understanding of COVID-19 pathology, and proposes potential metabolism-based clinical solutions.
Activation of tissue-resident myeloid cells in the brain, known as microglia, is thought to drive obesity-associated hypothalamic dysfunction. The authors of this Perspective present a more nuanced view of microglia, echoing lessons learned from the field of adipose macrophage biology: instead of simply responding to diet-induced damage, microglia are proposed to act as nutrient and environmental sensors that regulate hypothalamic physiology, a role that, if hijacked by chronic overnutrition, can produce disease.
