Inflammation is the body's complex protective reaction to injury caused by various stimuli. It involves the destruction, dilution, or walling off of injurious agents. The mechanisms of inflammation include local alterations, exudation of fluid and cells, and proliferation of new tissue. Acute inflammation is characterized by classical symptoms of heat, redness, swelling, pain, and loss of function, as well as systemic responses like fever and increased white blood cell count. It involves vascular changes, cellular events like leukocyte migration, and outcomes like resolution, healing by scar tissue, or progression to chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation is driven by lymphocytes, plasma cells, macrophages and involves distinctive patterns like granulomatous inflammation seen in tuberculosis.

1. Inflammation Jan Laco, M.D., Ph.D.