Chronic Inflammation 101

A clear, evidence-aligned guide to what
chronic inflammation is, why it matters,
and what typically drives it —
systemically, not just in one tissue.

If you’ve felt like “everything is connected” (energy, digestion, mood, joints, metabolism), chronic inflammation is often the shared backdrop.
Browse the Science Hub

Educational note: This is a general overview of inflammation biology and system-level signaling. It is not a claim that any product treats, cures, or prevents disease.

What Inflammation Is

Inflammation is your body’s built-in response to injury, infection, and cellular stress. In an ideal scenario, it is acute: it turns on, clears the issue, and resolves.

Chronic inflammation is different — it can stay partially activated for months or years, creating a persistent background signal that subtly reshapes immune behavior, tissue repair, and metabolic signaling.

Marker / Pathway

Common Association

hs-CRP

Whole-body inflammatory burden;
cardiometabolic stress patterns; tissue strain.

ESR

Slower-moving inflammatory tone patterns;
compleents hs-CRP for trends.

Fasting insulin

Metabolic stress / insulin laod; inflammation-metabolism cross-talk patterns

Fasting glucose

Short-term glycemic state; stress/sleep/diet
pattern effects.

HbA1c

Longer-term glucose exposure (~8–12 weeks); metabolic pattern tracking.

Triglycerides

Metabolic context; meal/alcohol sensitivity;
energy balance patterns.

HDL (TG/HDL)

Metabolic pattern marker; fitness + diet context.

ApoB

Atherogenic particle burden; cardiometabolicrisk context.

ALT/AST (+ GST)

Liver / tissue stress context; metabolic strain patterns; alcohol sensitivity.

Ferritin

Iron storage context and, in some settings, inflammatory tone context.

IL-6

Inflammatory cytokine tone; immune activa-
tion + metabolic stress cross-talk.

TNF-a

Pro-inflammatory signaling tone; immune activation + metabolic inflammation context.

NF-kB

Central inflammatory signaling ‘switchboard’ tied to many downstream inflammatory programs.

COX-2

Inflammatory mediator signaling
(prostaglandin-related inflammatory tone).

NLRP3

Innate immune amplification (inflam-
masome-linked inflammatory escalation patterns).

TLR4

Innate immune sensing (often discussed in gutimmune and metabolic inflammation contexts).

AMPK

Energy-sensing / metabolic regulator
(metabolic inflammation cross-talk).

Nfr2 / ROS

Oxidative stress and antioxidant response
(redox resilience patterns).

IL-17 / IL-23 axis

Th17-adjacent immune tone patterns
(advanced/specialty context).

IL-22

Epithelial/barrier cytokine (mucosal/barrier
immune contexts).

IL-24

Epithelial cytokine program (airway/skin/epithelial inflammatory signaling contexts).

VDR

Vitamin D immune signaling receptor (immune balance and inflammatory tone contexts).

We have partnered with www.corhealth.com to offer you a 20% discount on their at-home ESR test kit.

Use the code ACEND20 at checkout.

Ingredients We Use

and the Biomarkers / Pathways They Modulate

For our practitioner partners, citizen-scientists, and the curious consumer, below we list common biomarkers and pathways that influence our biology and the ingredients we use that may modulate them.

AMPK

red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); (-)-epicatechin; luteolin; grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); quercetin dihydrate; thymoquinone; betaine anhydrous

ApoB & ApoE

dihydromyricetin; (-)-epicatechin; luteolin; quercetin dihydrate; thymoquinone; betaine anhydrous

IL-1β

astaxanthin; red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; (-)-epicatechin; quercetin dihydrate; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); thymoquinone; grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); betaine anhydrous; vitamin D3; selenium

IL-6

astaxanthin; betaine anhydrous; red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; (-)-epicatechin; grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); luteolin; quercetin dihydrate; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); thymoquinone; vitamin D3; vitamin K2; selenium

IL-8

astaxanthin; red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; (-)-epicatechin; grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); thymoquinone

IL-10 & IL-12

astaxanthin; betaine anhydrous; red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; quercetin dihydrate; grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); thymoquinone; vitamin D3

IL-17

astaxanthin; red curcumin; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); luteolin; quercetin dihydrate

IL-18

astaxanthin; red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; quercetin dihydrate; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); thymoquinone; selenium

IL-21, IL-22 &
IL-24

grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins);

CD38

luteolin; quercetin dihydrate

COX-2

astaxanthin; betaine anhydrous; red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); luteolin; quercetin dihydrate; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); thymoquinone; vitamin D3

FOXO1

betaine anhydrous; luteolin

FOXO3

red curcumin; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); luteolin; quercetin dihydrate

IGF-1

betaine anhydrous; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); quercetin dihydrate

IKKβ (IKKβ-Cys46)

dihydromyricetin; (-)-epicatechin; quercetin dihydrate

iNOS

astaxanthin; red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; (-)-epicatechin; grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); thymoquinone; quercetin dihydrate; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); betaine anhydrous

JNK

astaxanthin; red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; luteolin; grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); thymoquinone; quercetin dihydrate; dihydroquercetin(taxifolin)

MAPK

astaxanthin; dihydromyricetin; (-)-epicatechin; grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); luteolin; thymoquinone; quercetin dihydrate; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); betaine anhydrous

mTOR

red curcumin; (-)-epicatechin; dihydromyricetin; luteolin; quercetin dihydrate; thymoquinone

NF-κB

astaxanthin; red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; (-)-epicatechin; grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); thymoquinone; quercetin dihydrate; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); NAC; betaine anhydrous; vitamin D3; vitamin E

NLRP3

astaxanthin; red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; thymoquinone; quercetin dihydrate; grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); NAC; betaine anhydrous; vitamin K2; seleniumv

Nrf2

astaxanthin; dihydromyricetin; (-)-epicatechin; luteolin; grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); quercetin dihydrate; vitamin E

PI3K/AKT

astaxanthin; red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; (-)-epicatechin; grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); thymoquinone; quercetin dihydrate

p38

astaxanthin; dihydromyricetin; (-)-epicatechin; grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); thymoquinone; quercetin dihydrate

p65

betaine anhydrous; red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; (-)-epicatechin; quercetin dihydrate; luteolin; thymoquinone

PCSK9

red curcumin; luteolin; quercetin dihydrate

PPARγ 

astaxanthin; red curcumin; luteolin; quercetin dihydrate; vitamin E

ROS

astaxanthin; red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; epicatechin; luteolin; thymoquinone; NAC; quercetin dihydrate; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); vitamin E; selenium

SIRT1

astaxanthin; red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); luteolin; thymoquinone; quercetin dihydrate

SIRT3

red curcumin; (-)-epicatechin; dihydromyricetin

SIRT6

red curcumin; (-)-epicatechin; luteolin

STAT3

red curcumin; quercetin dihydrate; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins)

TLR4

red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; quercetin dihydrate; grape seed extract (proanthocyanidins); NAC; betaine anhydrous; vitamin D3

TNF-α

astaxanthin; red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); luteolin; thymoquinone; quercetin dihydrate; betaine anhydrous; vitamin D3; selenium

VDR

vitamin D3

VDRVEGF

red curcumin; dihydromyricetin; (-)-epicatechin; thymoquinone; dihydroquercetin (taxifolin); quercetin dihydrate

Treat the System, Not Just the Symptom