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Immunology

Malnutrition promotes rogue bacteria

Nature volume 487, pages 437–439 (2012)Cite this article

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Dietary lack of a single amino acid impairs intestinal immunity in mice, altering the guts microbial community and leaving it vulnerable to damage. The finding helps to explain how malnutrition favours gut inflammation. See Letter p.477

Malnutrition enhances the susceptibility to and the severity of gastrointestinal infections and diarrhoeal diseases1. Although this effect has been observed for decades, the underlying mechanisms linking diet and immunodeficiency have remained largely unknown. On page 477 of this issue, Hashimoto et al.2 elegantly dissect the connection between protein deficiency and intestinal inflammation, uncovering an intricate network involving nutrient transport, microbial ecology, antimicrobial responses and inflammation.

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Figure 1: A gut-friendly diet.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ana Izcue is at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, 79108 Freiburg, Germany and the Centre of Chronic Immunodeficiency, Freiburg.,

    Ana Izcue

  2. Fiona Powrie is in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK, and the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, Oxford.,

    Fiona Powrie

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  1. Ana Izcue
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  2. Fiona Powrie
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Correspondence to Ana Izcue or Fiona Powrie.

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Izcue, A., Powrie, F. Malnutrition promotes rogue bacteria. Nature 487, 437–439 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/487437a

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