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Nutrients
Special Issues
Nutrition and Gut Microbiota-Immune System Interplay in Chronic Diseases
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Nutrition and Gut Microbiota-Immune System Interplay in Chronic Diseases

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Clinical Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2024 | Viewed by 7189

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Sofia Viana

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology (CIBB), Institute of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, & Coimbra Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research (iCBR), Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal, Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, ESTESC-Coimbra Health School, 3046-854 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: gut microbiota; gut immunity; age-related chronic diseases; therapeutics & nutraceuticals; phytochemistry; food additives and processing
Prof. Dr. Flávio Reis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Centre for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology (CIBB), University of Coimbra, 3004-504 Coimbra, Portugal
2. Institute of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics & Coimbra Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research (iCBR), Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: gut microbiota; therapeutics & nutraceuticals; cardiovascular & metabolic disorders; renal diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Eduardo Ortega Rincón

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Group in Immunophysiology, Instituto Universitario de Investigación Biosanitaria de Extremadura (INUBE), Department of Physiology, University of Extremadura, Avda. Elvas s/n, 06071 Badajoz, Spain
Interests: exercise; nutrition; immunity; inflammation; neuroimmunology; prebiotics; probiotics; and simbiotics; aging; obesity
Prof. Dr. Leonardo Ferreira

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas St, HO612h, MSC 635, Charleston, SC 29425, USA.
Interests: immunology; diabetes; autoimmunity; transplantation; cancer; aging; genoma editing; cell therapy; diet

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Non-communicable diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, allergy and cancer, are of increasing concern worldwide. These multifactorial illnesses share abnormal nutritional conditions, namely overnutrition, that extensively impair the gut microbiota eco-system and intestinal immunity, leading to systemic chronic low-grade inflammation. Diet is the main energetic source, providing substrates either by the direct metabolism of food components or by the absorption of gut bacterial secondary metabolites. Intake of nutrients (e.g. sugars, fats, proteins, vitamins) and their metabolism thereof shape gut microbiota composition and function, as well as immune responses in the gut, the first immune point of contact. Both the type and quantity of energetic substrates accessible to immune cells dictate the activation of specific metabolic processes (e.g. glycolysis, lipid metabolism) and are intertwined with the acquisition of pro- or anti-inflammatory phenotypes. An important additional layer in the crosstalk between diet, the gut microbiota and the immune system encompasses food additives. Most of these substances, abundant in processed foods to increase palatability and/or prolong shelf life, contribute to the development and worsening of chronic diseases. Yet, a few of these additives (e.g. prebiotics, probiotics, and symbiotics) benefit gut microbiota ecology and host immunity. Since diet is among the greatest modulators of the gut microbiota-immune system interplay, there is now widespread interest on how the nutritional landscape can be used to fine tune gut microbiota, immunometabolism, and low-grade inflammation.

This Special Issue aims to provide a better understanding of how different sources of dietary components or drugs/phytochemicals targeting key nutrient-signaling pathways orchestrate molecular mechanisms affecting intestinal microbiota, gut immunity and distal effects on key target tissues of chronic diseases. We invite manuscripts that explore aspects of this broad topic, including, but not limited to, emerging technologies to study this field of knowledge. The present Special Issue is now open for submission of manuscripts that provide either original research using cell culture systems and animal models, as well as clinical/interventional studies and reviews of the current state of research.

Prof. Dr. Sofia Viana
Prof. Dr. Flávio Reis
Prof. Dr. Eduardo Ortega Rincón
Prof. Dr. Leonardo Ferreira
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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

  • gut microbiota
  • immunology
  • diet
  • food additives
  • nutraceuticals
  • aging
  • cardiorenal&Metabolic diseases
  • cancer
  • autoimmunity
  • transplantation

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 2105 KiB  
Article
Effect of Blueberry Supplementation on a Diet-Induced Rat Model of Prediabetes—Focus on Hepatic Lipid Deposition, Endoplasmic Stress Response and Autophagy
by Gonçalo Ferreira, Pedro Vieira, André Alves, Sara Nunes, Inês Preguiça, Tânia Martins-Marques, Tânia Ribeiro, Henrique Girão, Artur Figueirinha, Lígia Salgueiro, Manuela Pintado, Pedro Gomes, Sofia Viana and Flávio Reis
Nutrients 2024, 16(4), 513; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16040513 - 13 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1242
Abstract
Blueberries, red fruits enriched in polyphenols and fibers, are envisaged as a promising nutraceutical intervention in a plethora of metabolic diseases. Prediabetes, an intermediate state between normal glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes, fuels the development of complications, including hepatic steatosis. In previous [...] Read more.
Blueberries, red fruits enriched in polyphenols and fibers, are envisaged as a promising nutraceutical intervention in a plethora of metabolic diseases. Prediabetes, an intermediate state between normal glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes, fuels the development of complications, including hepatic steatosis. In previous work, we have demonstrated that blueberry juice (BJ) supplementation benefits glycemic control and lipid profile, which was accompanied by an amelioration of hepatic mitochondrial bioenergetics. The purpose of this study is to clarify the impact of long-term BJ nutraceutical intervention on cellular mechanisms that govern hepatic lipid homeostasis, namely autophagy and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, in a rat model of prediabetes. Two groups of male Wistar rats, 8-weeks old, were fed a prediabetes-inducing high-fat diet (HFD) and one group was fed a control diet (CD). From the timepoint where the prediabetic phenotype was achieved (week 16) until the end of the study (week 24), one of the HFD-fed groups was daily orally supplemented with 25 g/kg body weight (BW) of BJ (HFD + BJ). BW, caloric intake, glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity were monitored throughout the study. The serum and hepatic lipid contents were quantified. Liver and interscapular brown and epidydimal white adipose tissue depots (iBAT and eWAT) were collected for histological analysis and to assess thermogenesis, ER stress and autophagy markers. The gut microbiota composition and the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) content were determined in colon fecal samples. BJ supplementation positively impacted glycemic control but was unable to prevent obesity and adiposity. BJ-treated animals presented a reduction in fecal SCFAs, increased markers of arrested iBAT thermogenesis and energy expenditure, together with an aggravation of HFD-induced lipotoxicity and hepatic steatosis, which were accompanied by the inhibition of autophagy and ER stress responses in the liver. In conclusion, despite the improvement of glucose tolerance, BJ supplementation promoted a major impact on lipid management mechanisms at liver and AT levels in prediabetic animals, which might affect disease course. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition and Gut Microbiota-Immune System Interplay in Chronic Diseases)
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14 pages, 2695 KiB  
Article
The Diversity of Gut Microbiota at Weaning Is Altered in Prolactin Receptor-Null Mice
by Ivan Luzardo-Ocampo, Ana Luisa Ocampo-Ruiz, José Luis Dena-Beltrán, Gonzalo Martínez de la Escalera, Carmen Clapp and Yazmín Macotela
Nutrients 2023, 15(15), 3447; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15153447 - 04 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1375
Abstract
Maternal milk supports offspring development by providing microbiota, macronutrients, micronutrients, immune factors, and hormones. The hormone prolactin (PRL) is an important milk component with protective effects against metabolic diseases. Because maternal milk regulates microbiota composition and adequate microbiota protect against the development of [...] Read more.
Maternal milk supports offspring development by providing microbiota, macronutrients, micronutrients, immune factors, and hormones. The hormone prolactin (PRL) is an important milk component with protective effects against metabolic diseases. Because maternal milk regulates microbiota composition and adequate microbiota protect against the development of metabolic diseases, we aimed to investigate whether PRL/PRL receptor signaling regulates gut microbiota composition in newborn mice at weaning. 16SrRNA sequencing of feces and bioinformatics analysis was performed to evaluate gut microbiota in PRL receptor-null mice (Prlr-KO) at weaning (postnatal day 21). The normalized colon and cecal weights were higher and lower, respectively, in the Prlr-KO mice relative to the wild-type mice (Prlr-WT). Relative abundances (Simpson Evenness Index), phylogenetic diversity, and bacterial concentrations were lower in the Prlr-KO mice. Eleven bacteria species out of 470 differed between the Prlr-KO and Prlr-WT mice, with two genera (Anaerotruncus and Lachnospiraceae) related to metabolic disease development being the most common in the Prlr-KO mice. A higher metabolism of terpenoids and polyketides was predicted in the Prlr-KO mice compared to the Prlr-WT mice, and these metabolites had antimicrobial properties and were present in microbe-associated pathogenicity. We concluded that the absence of the PRL receptor altered gut microbiota, resulting in lower abundance and richness, which could contribute to metabolic disease development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition and Gut Microbiota-Immune System Interplay in Chronic Diseases)
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13 pages, 1026 KiB  
Article
Synbiotic Supplementation Improves Quality of Life and Inmunoneuroendocrine Response in Patients with Fibromyalgia: Influence of Codiagnosis with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
by María Dolores Hinchado, Carmen Daniela Quero-Calero, Eduardo Otero, Isabel Gálvez and Eduardo Ortega
Nutrients 2023, 15(7), 1591; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15071591 - 25 Mar 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3573
Abstract
Fibromyalgia (FM) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are two medical conditions in which pain, fatigue, immune/inflammatory dysregulation, as well as various mental health disorders predominate in the diagnosis, without evidence of a clear consensus on the treatment of FM and CFS. The main [...] Read more.
Fibromyalgia (FM) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are two medical conditions in which pain, fatigue, immune/inflammatory dysregulation, as well as various mental health disorders predominate in the diagnosis, without evidence of a clear consensus on the treatment of FM and CFS. The main aim of this research was to analyse the possible effects of a synbiotic (Synbiotic, Gasteel Plus® (Heel España S.A.U.), through the study of pro-inflammatory/anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-8/IL-10) and neuroendocrine biomarkers (cortisol and DHEA), in order to evaluate the interaction between inflammatory and stress responses mediated by the cytokine-HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis, as well as mental and physical health using body composition analysis, accelerometry and previously validated questionnaires. The participants were women diagnosed with FM with or without a diagnostic of CFS. Each participant was evaluated at baseline and after the intervention, which lasted one month. Synbiotic intervention decreased levels of perceived stress, anxiety and depression, as well as improved quality of life during daily activities. In addition, the synbiotic generated an activation of HPA axis (physiological cortisol release) that can compensate the increased inflammatory status (elevated IL-8) observed at baseline in FM patients. There were no detrimental changes in body composition or sleep parameters, as well as in the most of the activity/sedentarism-related parameters studied by accelerometry. It is concluded that synbiotic nutritional supplements can improve the dysregulated immunoneuroendocrine interaction involving inflammatory and stress responses in women diagnosed with FM, particularly in those without a previous CFS diagnostic; as well as their perceived of levels stress, anxiety, depression and quality of life. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition and Gut Microbiota-Immune System Interplay in Chronic Diseases)
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