The Odyssey of macrophages

This issue brings together reviews and original research addressing diverse aspects of immune regulation, disease mechanisms, and clinical management. Several reviews focus on macrophages as integrative regulators across physiological systems, including their circadian control of immune activity, their role in coordinating endocrine signaling within the hypothalamic-pituitary axes, and their functions in cardiac tissue homeostasis and repair. Additional contributions revisit the development of regulatory T cells as a central mechanism of peripheral immune tolerance, examine the potential of artificial intelligence for infectious disease surveillance, and discuss emerging roles of long non-coding RNAs in cardiac regeneration. Further reviews evaluate multidisciplinary care strategies for pelvic floor disorders and analyze the inflammatory consequences of photodynamic therapy. Original studies in this issue investigate areca nut-associated head and neck carcinogenesis, determinants of persistent carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteremia, treatment outcomes in hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein tumor thrombus, protective effects against gastric ulceration, machine-learning-assisted interpretation of syphilis serology, and relapse patterns following orthognathic surgery.