title: Nutritional control of immunity: Balancing the metabolic requirements with an appropriate immune function.
abstract: The immune system is a highly integrated network of cells sensitive to a number of environmental factors. Interestingly, recent years have seen a dramatic increase in our understanding of how diet makes a crucial contribution to human health, affecting the immune system, secretion of adipocytokines and metabolic pathways. Recent experimental evidence indicates that diet and its components are able to profoundly influence immune responses, thus affecting the development of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. This review aims to discuss some of the main topics concerning the impact of nutrients and their relative composition on immune cell development and function that may be particularly important for regulating the balance between inflammatory and tolerogenic processes. We also highlight the effects of diet on commensal bacteria and how changes in the composition of the microbiota alter intestinal and systemic immune homeostasis. Finally, we summarize the effects of dietary compounds on epigenetic mechanisms involved in the regulation of several immune related genes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Immunologia, Istituto di Endocrinologia e Oncologia Sperimentale, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IEOS-CNR), Napoli 80131, Italy; Unità di NeuroImmunologia, Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma 00143, Italy.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: De Rosa
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Immunologia, Istituto di Endocrinologia e Oncologia Sperimentale, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IEOS-CNR), Napoli 80131, Italy.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galgani
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Immunologia, Istituto di Endocrinologia e Oncologia Sperimentale, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IEOS-CNR), Napoli 80131, Italy; Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e Biotecnologie Mediche, Università di Napoli "Federico II", Napoli 80131, Italy.
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santopaolo
authors.affiliation: Unità di NeuroImmunologia, Fondazione Santa Lucia, Roma 00143, Italy; Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università di Salerno, Baronissi Campus, Baronissi 84081, Salerno, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Colamatteo
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Immunologia, Istituto di Endocrinologia e Oncologia Sperimentale, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IEOS-CNR), Napoli 80131, Italy; Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università di Salerno, Baronissi Campus, Baronissi 84081, Salerno, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Laccetti
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università di Salerno, Baronissi Campus, Baronissi 84081, Salerno, Italy; IRCCS MultiMedica, Milano 20138, Italy. Electronic address: gmatarese@unisa.it.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Matarese
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000276:immunology; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005502:Food; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000276:immunology; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D007109:Immunity; D009765:Obesity / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
keywords: Dietary components; Gut microbiota; Immune function; Nutriepigenomics; Nutrition; Obesity