Nutrients

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Dear Colleagues,

The first 1000 days of life, including the intrauterine period, arise as a fundamental transitional period for the development of a healthy immune system. Specific nutrients and different dietary patterns appear pivotal for the development of the immune system. Together with the diet’s influences on the composition of the intestinal microflora, these patterns play a decisive role in the function of the immune system throughout the human lifespan.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to highlight the role of the interplay of nutrition in early life and immune system health.

A broad range of original in vivo or in vitro studies, case studies, cohorts or review manuscripts are welcome that aim to understand the interplay of diet and immunity, in the prevention, therapy or burden of immune-related diseases in early or future life, including allergies, infections, autoimmune diseases, immunodeficiencies, neuroimmune diseases, obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and more.

Dr. Sophia E. Tsabouri
Dr. Emilia Vassilopoulou
Dr. Gavriela Maria Feketea
Guest Editors

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Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

nutrition
children
intrauterine period
immunity
immune system
diet
allergy
infections
metabolic syndrome
diabetes
therapy

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 4178 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Maternal Diet Index and Offspring Microbiota at 1 Month of Life: Insights from the Mediterranean Birth Cohort MAMI

by Raúl Cabrera-Rubio, Kaci Pickett-Nairne, Sonia González-Solares, Maria Carmen Collado and Carina Venter

Nutrients 2024, 16(2), 314; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16020314 - 20 Jan 2024

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Abstract

Background: Maternal diet during pregnancy may play a role in infant health outcomes via the maternal microbiota. We assessed the association of the maternal diet index for the Mediterranean area (MDI-med) with infant gut microbiota at 1 month of life. Methods: The MAMI study is a longitudinal birth cohort in the Mediterranean area. In this work, a cross-sectional study, including 120 mother–infant dyads with available maternal diet and infant microbiota at 1-month-old data, was undertaken. The MDI developed in the US (MDI-US) was adapted for the MAMI cohort (MDI-med). Stratification based on extreme values resulted (22 in the “lower” MDI-med group and 23 in the “upper” group from the mean). Relative microbial abundances and alpha (microbial richness and diversity indexes) and beta diversity (Bray–Curtis distance matrix) were compared between the groups. Results: Higher maternal daily vegetable intake and lower red meat intake were the characteristics of the “upper” MDI-med group. Significantly lower microbial diversity (Shannon and InvSimpson index (p = 0.01)), but no changes in richness (Chao1 index) nor in beta-diversity, using Bray–Curtis distance, were observed in the “upper” group, compared to the “lower” MDI-med group. A higher relative abundance of the Bifidobacterium genus (Actinomycetota phylum) was associated with maternal daily vegetable and yogurt intake. Conclusion: Reduced infant microbial diversity at 1 month of age was associated with “upper” MDI-med scores. Higher maternal intakes of vegetables and yogurt were associated with higher relative abundances of the Bifidobacterium genus in the infant gut. Further studies are needed to understand the link between pregnancy diet, infant microbiota, and health outcomes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition and Immunity in Early Childhood)

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14 pages, 1809 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Complementary Feeding Practices: Recommendations of Pediatricians for Infants with and without Allergy Risk

by Emilia Vassilopoulou, Gavriela Feketea, Ioannis Pagkalos, Dimitrios Rallis, Gregorio Paolo Milani, Carlo Agostoni, Nikolaos Douladiris, John Lakoumentas, Evangelia Stefanaki, Zenon Efthymiou and Sophia Tsabouri

Nutrients 2024, 16(2), 239; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16020239 - 12 Jan 2024

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Abstract

Aim: To investigate the routine guidance provided by pediatricians concerning the timing of complementary feeding (CF) for both healthy infants and those at a heightened risk of allergies. Methods: A total of 233 pediatricians participated in an anonymous online survey that included questions about demographics and recommendations for CF. Specifically, they provided guidance on the types of foods, preparation methods, supplements, time intervals for introducing new foods to infants at low and high allergy risk, and delayed food introductions for high-risk cases. Results: The respondents advised introducing certain foods at specific ages: fruits, starchy non-gluten grains, vegetables, olive oil, and meat were appropriate at 6 months; gluten-rich grains at 7 months; yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, and legumes at 8 months; fish at 8.5 months; and nuts at 9 months. Pediatricians, especially those with less than 15 years of practice, often introduced egg, seafood, gluten-rich grains, legumes, and nuts earlier for high-risk infants. Parenthood and male gender were associated with the earlier introduction of eggs and grains. Conclusions: Greek pediatricians follow a structured food introduction schedule for CF in infants. Interestingly, they tend to delay the introduction of common food allergens and recommend longer intervals between introducing new foods, particularly for high-risk infants. Key Notes: Despite recent evidence-based indications on healthy complementary feeding strategies for infants, discrepancies persist among pediatricians regarding food choices and the order and timing of food introduction, both for healthy infants and those at risk of allergy. Guidance on complementary feeding by pediatricians is influenced by their individual characteristics. Pediatricians tend to delay the introduction of common food allergens and recommend longer intervals between introducing new foods, particularly for high-risk infants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition and Immunity in Early Childhood)

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