Dietary Interventions for Immune Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

Foods are considered friends and foes of several immune diseases occurring at the pediatric age.

A high-fat diet is known to be responsible for metabolic syndrome, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases. Recently, more attention has been focused on the role of ultra-processed foods in numerous chronic inflammatory diseases such as inflammatory bowel diseases and metabolic syndrome. Preclinical and clinical studies are indeed accumulating to better decipher the effects of various aspects of food processing and formulation on the etiology of several chronic and debilitating inflammatory diseases. On the other hand, the therapeutical role of specific diets is well known for several pediatric immune diseases, including allergic and endocrine disorders, such as food allergy, inflammatory bowel diseases, coeliac disease, eosinophilic esophagitis, obesity, diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, and metabolic syndrome. Foods are key factors influencing the correct development of gut microbiota and microbiome balance—and thus the immune system—since the first day of life. For these reasons, evidence has demonstrated that some foods might also play a preventive role in the development of several immune diseases.

The overall aim of this Special Issue is to describe the pivotal role of dietary interventions for most common pediatric immune diseases; understand the mechanism(s) whereby diet can prevent or treat these diseases; analyze potential limitations or complications related to food-elimination diets, and identify current gaps in the area of research.

The reviews included in this Special Issue will: 1) summarize the current literature supporting the therapeutic role of diet in pediatric immune diseases, providing a critical analysis of the available data; 2) provide new evidence on diet interventions in immune diseases; 3) describe the mechanisms involved in disease prevention and treatment; 4) identify novel dietary intervention strategies to treat or limit disease development or progression; and 5) assess whether modulating the microbiota can provide a novel therapy to treat immune diseases.

This Special Issue, entitled “Dietary Interventions for Immune Diseases”, is open only for original articles, scoping or narrative reviews, systematic reviews, or meta-analysis studies supporting or describing the role of dietary interventions for immune diseases, also analyzing the available literature and research evidence, with a particular focus on the pediatric age.

Dr. Martina Votto
Dr. Ilaria Brambilla
Guest Editors

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