Determining reliable markers for nutritional modulation of immune functions and inflammation
Background
Now, at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s more than ever obvious that approaches to ensure that
individuals’ immune systems are well supported, should be investigated and taken. Nutrition should be at the
forefront of these approaches.
Objectives
The Task Force is supporting researchers to scientifically substantiate health effects associated with immune functions modulation. To that end, the objectives of the task force are:
- Understand the impact of nutrition on immune functions.
- Determine reliable markers of immuno-modulation and inflammation relevant to health and well-being.
- Provide guidance for the design, assessment and interpretation of nutritional intervention studies related
to immune function.
Impact
According to Calder et al. (2017) findings, specific dietary interventions seem to be a promising strategy to control the “low grade inflammation”, associated with agerelated decline of many functional systems and with increased risk of ill-health, poor well-being and mortality.
This work has been cited more than 100 times.
Experts of the activity “Immune Competence Across Lifespan” presented their findings at Food Matters, in November 2019 during a session entitled “Boosting your immune system: latest insights”.
For more detailed information, please contact Dr Simeon Bourdoux at sbourdoux@ilsieurope.be or Adam Coventry at acoventry@ilsieurope.be
Task Force Members
Expert Groups
Immune Competence Across Lifespan: Impact of Nutrition on Immune Competence and its Consequences Later in Life
Background & Objectives
The importance of a well-functioning immune system is well recognised. However, the role of critical nutrients
supporting optimal immune development in the first years of life, as well as the impact of early life nutrition on later life immune competence, are still under debate.
This activity aims:
- to identify key pathways and markers relevant for immune competence and health across lifespan;
- to review the interaction between nutrition and immune competence in early life;
- to explore the impact of early life immune competence on immunity and health trajectory later in life.
Output
The overall outcomes will provide healthcare professionals with recommendations of readouts for immune
competence, and nutritional recommendations for an optimal performing immune system in early in life.
A manuscript is foreseen in Q4 2020 and will explore relevant determinants and biomarkers of IgE-mediated
food allergy in childhood.
Joint Nutrition Cluster Activity on ‘Mechanistic Insights into the Gut-Brain Axis’ – In collaboration with Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health; Health Benefits Assessment of Foods; Nutrition & Brain Health; Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces
Background & Objectives
Currently, half of the literature available on the gut-brain axis is state-of-the-art reviews or correlative studies and comprehensive mechanistic insights underlining the bidirectional communication between the gut and the brain are lacking.
In this context, several Nutrition Task Forces decided to join forces to understand where we stand today regarding the mechanisms. Together the Task Forces will:
- focus on translational aspects from pre-clinical to clinical studies;
- focus on lifespan-related changes (but not diseaserelated) in gut structure and function which play a role in long-term immune and brain health;
- discuss the nutritional and lifestyle interventions with positive impact on the lifespan gut structure/function and thus on immune and brain health.
Output
A workshop held in December 2019 brought together key experts from different fields of expertise to debate and discuss on the current knowledge and data gaps.
A perspective paper on this gap analysis is under construction. This publication will be followed by a series of web-seminars to discuss the identified gaps in more details.
Expert Group Members
Immune Competence Across Lifespan: Impact of Nutrition on Immune Competence and its Consequences Later in Life
Joint Nutrition Cluster Activity on ‘Mechanistic Insights into the Gut-Brain Axis’ – In collaboration with Early-Life and Long-Term Health; Health Benefits Assessment of Foods; Nutrition & Brain Health; Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces
Poster
Publications
All Publications
The microbiota–gut–brain axis: pathways to better brain health. Perspectives on what we know, what we need to investigate and how to put knowledge into practice
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 2022
Potential Biomarkers, Risk Factors, and Their Associations with IgE-Mediated Food Allergy in Early Life: A Narrative Review
2021
Health Relevance of the Modification of Low Grade Inflammation in Ageing (inflammageing) and the Role of Nutrition
2017
A Consideration of Biomarkers to be Used for Evaluation of Inflammation in Human Nutritional Studies
2013
Monitoring Immune Modulation by Nutrition in the General Population: Identifying and Substantiating Effects on Human Health
2013
Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health
Nutrition and Brain Health
Nutrition, Immunity and Inflammation
Prebiotics
Probiotics
GUT MICROBIOME AND HEALTH
The gut and brain link via various metabolic and signalling pathways, each with the potential to influence mental, brain and cognitive health. Over the past decade, the involvement of the gut microbiota in gut-brain communication has become the focus of increased scientific interest, establishing the microbiota-gut-brain axis as a field of research. There is a growing number of association studies exploring the gut microbiota's possible role in memory, learning, anxiety, stress, neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Consequently, attention is now turning to how the microbiota can become the target of nutritional and therapeutic strategies for improved brain health and well-being. However, while such strategies that target the gut microbiota to influence brain health and function are currently under development with varying levels of success, still very little is yet known about the triggers and mechanisms underlying the gut microbiota's apparent influence on cognitive or brain function and most evidence comes from pre-clinical studies rather than well controlled clinical trials/investigations. Filling the knowledge gaps requires establishing a standardised methodology for human studies, including strong guidance for specific focus areas of the microbiota-gut-brain axis, the need for more extensive biological sample analyses, and identification of relevant biomarkers. Other urgent requirements are new advanced models for in vitro and in vivo studies of relevant mechanisms, and a greater focus on omics technologies with supporting bioinformatics resources (training, tools) to efficiently translate study findings, as well as the identification of relevant targets in study populations. The key to building a validated evidence base rely on increasing knowledge sharing and multi-disciplinary collaborations, along with continued public-private funding support. This will allow microbiota-gut-brain axis research to move to its next phase so we can identify realistic opportunities to modulate the microbiota for better brain health.
To download this open-access article, please click here.
This work was conducted in collaboration with the Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health, Nutrition and Brain Health, Nutrition, Immunity and Inflammation, Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
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Nutrition, Immunity and Inflamation
NUTRITION SECURITY AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
Food allergy (FA) affects the quality of life of millions of people worldwide and presents a significant psychological and financial burden for both national and international public health. In the past few decades, the prevalence of allergic disease has been on the rise worldwide. Identified risk factors for FA include family history, mode of delivery, variations in infant feeding practices, prior diagnosis of other atopic diseases such as eczema, and social economic status. Identifying reliable biomarkers that predict the risk of developing FA in early life would be valuable in both preventing morbidity and mortality and by making current interventions available at the earliest opportunity. There is also the potential to identify new therapeutic targets. This narrative review provides details on the genetic, epigenetic, dietary, and microbiome influences upon the development of FA and synthesizes the currently available data indicating potential biomarkers. Whereas there is a large body of research evidence available within each field of potential risk factors, there is a very limited number of studies that span multiple methodological fields, for example, including immunology, microbiome, genetic/epigenetic factors, and dietary assessment. We recommend that further collaborative research with detailed cohort phenotyping is required to identify biomarkers, and whether these vary between at-risk populations and the wider population. The
low incidence of oral food challenge-confirmed FA in the general population, and the complexities of designing nutritional intervention studies will provide challenges for researchers to address in generating high-quality, reliable, and reproducible research findings
Read the full-text article here
IgE-mediated food allergy, biomarkers, pathways, risk factors, microbiota, nutrition, infant diet
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Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health
Nutrition and Brain Health
Nutrition, Immunity and Inflammation
Prebiotics
Probiotics
GUT MICROBIOME AND HEALTH
The gut and brain link via various metabolic and signalling pathways, each with the potential to influence mental, brain and cognitive health. Over the past decade, the involvement of the gut microbiota in gut-brain communication has become the focus of increased scientific interest, establishing the microbiota-gut-brain axis as a field of research. There is a growing number of association studies exploring the gut microbiota's possible role in memory, learning, anxiety, stress, neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Consequently, attention is now turning to how the microbiota can become the target of nutritional and therapeutic strategies for improved brain health and well-being. However, while such strategies that target the gut microbiota to influence brain health and function are currently under development with varying levels of success, still very little is yet known about the triggers and mechanisms underlying the gut microbiota's apparent influence on cognitive or brain function and most evidence comes from pre-clinical studies rather than well controlled clinical trials/investigations. Filling the knowledge gaps requires establishing a standardised methodology for human studies, including strong guidance for specific focus areas of the microbiota-gut-brain axis, the need for more extensive biological sample analyses, and identification of relevant biomarkers. Other urgent requirements are new advanced models for in vitro and in vivo studies of relevant mechanisms, and a greater focus on omics technologies with supporting bioinformatics resources (training, tools) to efficiently translate study findings, as well as the identification of relevant targets in study populations. The key to building a validated evidence base rely on increasing knowledge sharing and multi-disciplinary collaborations, along with continued public-private funding support. This will allow microbiota-gut-brain axis research to move to its next phase so we can identify realistic opportunities to modulate the microbiota for better brain health.
To download this open-access article, please click here.
This work was conducted in collaboration with the Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health, Nutrition and Brain Health, Nutrition, Immunity and Inflammation, Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
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