Cardiac resident macrophages in cardiovascular disease: from physiology to pathology

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disease burden worldwide. Macrophages are important components of the internal immune cells, which profoundly affects the internal environmental homeostasis and repair after injury. Cardiac resident macrophages have been shown to regulate a variety of myocardial physiology and pathological activities. Homeostatic resident macrophages in the heart promote angiogenesis, remove ageing and dying cells and participate in cardiac electrical conduction. However, the role of cardiac resident macrophages is still not fully understood despite the growing attention they have received. This review provides an overview of macrophage biology and highlights prominent and emerging interrelationships and functions between cardiac resident macrophages and CVD, aiming to prove a description of the functional diversity of cardiac resident macrophages in different CVD to explore potential options to regulate them. This may provide opportunities for successful therapeutic interventions to improve the prognosis of patients with CVD.