Abstract

 In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which the World Health Organization officially declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, we write a mini-review on an association between nutrition and mucosal immunity. The human immunity consists of non-specific innate immunity recognizing pathogen-associated molecular patterns and subsequent adaptive immunity specific for the target antigens. The immune system of the intestine as mucosal immunity must have functions to defend against constant threat of invading pathogens while suppressing immune responses to harmless dietary antigens and commensal bacteria. Nutrition seems to have a major role in non-heritable influences on the innate and adaptive immunity. It has been demonstrated in humans that some nutrients including β-glucan have the potential to boost the mucosal immunity to viral infections. Conversely, it is conceivable that continuing supplementation of (large-dose) β-glucans or lipopolysaccharides can suppress the innate immunity by stimulating regulatory T cells. For now, the impact of nutrition on human immunity should neither be overestimated nor be underestimated.

Keywords: Nutrition; Innate Immunity; Adaptive Immunity; Mucosal Immunity; COVID-19

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Citation

Citation: Yuji Aoki., et al. “A Mini-Review on an Association between Nutrition and Mucosal Immunity in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic". Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 4.7 (2020): 43-48.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Yuji Aoki., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.