Table 1.

Table showing the pros and cons of the different therapeutic approaches targeting macrophages to improve muscle regeneration and/or mitigate muscle diseases.

Therapeutic approaches	Advantages	Challenges	References
Anti-inflammatory cytokines (e.g., IL-10)	Endogenous molecules; deactivate proinflammatory macrophages and induce the anti-inflammatory phenotype	Short-term effect; nonspecific (could directly impair other cellular processes in skeletal muscle regeneration)	[115, 117]
Growth factors (e.g., IGF-1)	Endogenous molecules; promote macrophage transition to their anti-inflammatory phenotype; promote muscle growth	Short-term effect; systemic side effects	[121, 124, 125]
RNA silencing (e.g., miRNA, siRNA)	Specifically target genes implicated in chronic inflammation; skewed macrophages toward pro- or anti-inflammatory phenotype	Poor stability; inappropriate distribution; off-target side effects; delivery	[126, 127, 136, 138, 200]
NF-κB inhibitors	Dampen inflammation; easy to deliver; good stability	Nonspecific (could directly impair other cellular processes in skeletal muscle regeneration)	[143]
Nutritional compounds (proteins, amino acids, PUFA, vitamins, and antioxidants)	Promote macrophage transition; potentiate the effect of other therapies; inexpensive; easy to administer	Mild therapeutic effect	[166, 171, 172]
Biomaterials	Skewed macrophages toward pro- or anti-inflammatory phenotype; local effects; long-term effects; combination with other therapies	Invasive; biocompatibility; risk of contamination; degradation of the biomaterial	[201]
Macrophage transplantation	Specifically deliver the desired macrophage subset; increase the success rate of satellite cell transplantation	Invasive; systemic side effects; expensive; time consuming	[193–195]