Roles of Macrophage Subtypes in Bowel Anastomotic Healing and Anastomotic Leakage

Figure 2

Imbalance of polarized macrophages contributes to the occurrence of anastomotic leakage. In some pathological conditions (infection, ischemia, diabetes mellitus, etc.), macrophages are abnormally activated into M1-type macrophages or inhibited to express the M2-type phenotype, which leads to long-time inflammatory response in the anastomotic site and influences collagen deposition and tissue repair; all of those are thought to be associated with anastomotic leakage.