Research Progress of Pyroptosis and Metabolic Diseases

Pyroptosis is a form of programmed cell death associated with inflammatory responses, which is closely related to various metabolic diseases including hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, gout, and atherosclerosis. Of note, caspase-1-dependent and caspase-1-independent pyroptosis are involved in the development of metabolic diseases. In caspase-1-dependent pyroptosis, metabolic diseases-triggered danger signals activate Nod-like receptor 3 inflammasome. The inflammasome initiates the pyroptosis and increases serum interleukin-1β levels, and subsequently triggers the local and systemic inflammatory responses, further promoting the development of metabolic disease. On the other hand, lipopolysaccharide released from Gram-negative bacteria induces the cell pyroptosis by activating caspase-4/5/11. Inhibition of the inflammasome-pyroptosis axis may be a potential strategy to improve the metabolic diseases in the future. However, given the underline mechanism through which pyroptosis regulates the metabolic homeostasis remains elusive, further studies are needed to be investigated.