TABLE 1

FROM:

Changes in the immune system are conditioned by nutrition

A Marcos, E Nova and A Montero

Table 1. Brief presentation of some physiological and pathological situations in which nutrition acts as a primary or a secondary determinant of immune function impairment

Physio/pathological situation	Some observed effects on immunity	Nutritional advise
PEM	Thymus atrophy, leukopenia, CD4/CD8	Reversible with refeeding
Ageing	frequency of infections, IL-2 production, lymphocyte proliferation	Beneficial nutrient supplementation
Obesity	Immunosuppression, frequency of infections, poor antibody response	Rationally controlled weight loss and then weight stability
Eating disorders	Leukopenia, relative lymphocytosis, DTH response, altered pattern of cytokine secretion	Nutritional rehabilitationNutritional education and correction of dietary habits
Sports requiring low body weight	Leukopenia, lymphopenia, DTH response, altered pattern of cytokine secretion.	Nutritional rehabilitationNutritional education and correction of dietary habits
Food allergy	Hyper-response of immunologic mechanisms leading to asthma, atopic eczema and other allergic manifestations.	Strict avoidance of allergenic food. Prevention through breast feeding, hydrolysed milk formulas and delayed introduction of allergenic foods
Gastrointestinal disorders	Those secondary to nutrient deficiencies	Administration of probiotics with adequate bacteria strains
	Failure of mucosal mechanisms of defence (altered IgA-mediated protection)
	Impairment of the homeostatic response to limit epithelial inflammation