Britannica Sources used in this answer

How can an acute inflammatory response develop into chronic inflammation?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Tuberculosis — disease A doctor examining chest X-rays of patients infected with tuberculosis, which remains one of the world's deadliest diseases.

An acute inflammatory response may progress to chronic inflammation if the underlying agent causing the injury cannot be eliminated or if the healing process is interfered with. Additionally, repeated episodes of acute inflammation can lead to the development of a chronic state.1

While acute inflammation is characterized by the rapid recruitment of neutrophils to the site of injury, chronic inflammation involves a shift in cellular composition. As the response persists, macrophages, lymphocytes, and plasma cells infiltrate the tissue, recruited by the steady release of chemotactic factors.21

The progression to chronic inflammation is often driven by infectious organisms that resist host defenses, foreign materials that cannot be removed by phagocytosis, or autoimmune reactions where the immune system targets the body's own tissues. In some instances, chronic inflammation may also arise independently rather than as a direct sequel to an acute event.1