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The Role of Nutraceuticals in Immunometabolism

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 November 2023) | Viewed by 21065

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Soledad Lopez-Enriquez

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Department of Medical Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Immunology School of Medicine, Universidad de Sevilla, Av. Sanchez Pizjuan s/n, 41009 Seville, Spain
Interests: food; nutrients; immunology; innate and adaptative response; immunometabolism; signaling pathways; flow cytometry; cell culture; allergy; allergic rhinitis; chronic rhinosinusitis
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Dr. Maria Francisca Palomares Jerez

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Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Seville, Av. Sanchez Pizjuan s/n, 41009 Seville, Spain
Interests: immunology; nutraceuticals; allergy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The therapeutic properties of nutraceuticals in the immune system, e.g., as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiaging, anticancer, and metabolic modulators, have been deeply studied.

There is evidence that phytochemicals such as sulforaphane, curcumin, naringenin or polyphenols can be used as complementary to anti-inflammatory drugs, leading to a reduction in the dose level of such drugs and even being able to enhance its effects. Moreover, these bioactive molecules can help to prevent the initial stages of diabetes mellitus, obesity, cancer, neurodegeneration, gastroenterological disorders, and infections.

As regards pro-inflammatory stimuli, professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) recognize pathogen- or damage-associated molecular patterns and process and present them on the cells’ surface, modifying the phenotypic, metabolic, and functional characteristics. Thus, APCs release mediators such as cytokines, chemokines, and vasoactive amines, which act on the small blood vessels, promoting leukocytes’ migration to damaged tissues. Moreover, in this microenvironment, other endogenous factors are related to the induction of this inflammation stage, such as advanced glycation end products, and oxidized lipoproteins can stimulate several pathways which, in turn, activate the transcription of pro-inflammatory genes.

The study of immunometabolism has emerged as a goal with promising therapeutic potential in diseases with inflammatory components. Immune cells are generally mediated by a shift to glycolytic metabolism, while anti-inflammatory and immune memory responses are generally supported by oxidative metabolism.

The aim of this Special Issue is to showcase new approaches associated with the therapeutic potential of nutraceuticals and immune function to treat inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. This Special Issue is open to preclinical and human studies.

Prof. Dr. Soledad Lopez-Enriquez
Dr. Maria Francisca Palomares Jerez
Guest Editors

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Keywords

bioactive compounds
immunoprotection
immunometabolism
preclinical and human studies
monocytes/macrophages, dendritic cells, neutrophils, natural killer T cells, regulatory T cells
ROS and autophagy

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Research

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17 pages, 705 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mediterranean Diet Combined with Regular Aerobic Exercise and Hemp Protein Supplementation Modulates Plasma Circulating Amino Acids and Improves the Health Status of Overweight Individuals

by Antonio D. Miguel-Albarreal, Fernando Rivero-Pino, Elvira Marquez-Paradas, Elena Grao-Cruces, Teresa Gonzalez-de la Rosa and Sergio Montserrat-de la Paz

Nutrients 2024, 16(11), 1594; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16111594 - 23 May 2024

Viewed by 1232

Abstract

Plant protein is considered a sustainable health-promoting strategy to prevent metabolic syndrome. Lifestyle changes (including dietary patterns and exercise) have been demonstrated to exert an effect on human health by modulating the biochemical status in humans. The objective of this study was to assess whether supplementation with hemp protein within a Mediterranean diet context together with exercise could help to ameliorate the metabolic statuses of patients prone to developing metabolic syndrome. For this study, 23 patients followed with Mediterranean diet and engaged in aerobic exercise according to the WHO’s recommendations, while also being supplemented with hemp protein, for 12 weeks. A comparison of anthropometric, biochemical, and mineral data as well as amino acid values was made between the start and the end of the study, with the subjects acting as their own control group. Statistical analyses included a paired t-test, Wilcoxon paired test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and Sparse Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis to evaluate significant differences and correlations among parameters. There were statistically significant changes in total cholesterol, HDL-C (+52.3%), LDL-C (−54.0%), and TAG levels (−49.8%), but not in glucose plasma levels. Following the intervention, plasma concentrations of some amino acids, including α-aminoadipic acid, phosphoethanolamine, and 1-metylhistidine, increased, whereas those of asparagine and alanine declined. Different correlations between amino acids and the other parameters evaluated were reported and discussed. A Mediterranean diet combined with regular aerobic exercise, together with protein supplementation, can highly improve the metabolic parameters and anthropometric parameters of subjects with obesity and impaired glucose levels, ameliorating their health status and likely delaying the development of metabolic syndrome. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Nutraceuticals in Immunometabolism)

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Figure 1

Figure 1
Correlation heat maps. (A) Represents the significant correlations (p value < 0.05) between some biochemical parameters and the amino acids quantified in the subjects after pre-processing and imputation of values. (B) Shows the significant correlations (p value < 0.05) between the same amino acids and the mineral levels quantified in the subjects. The color and size of the circle represents the Pearson correlation coefficient. Phser, phosphoserine; Taur, taurine; Pea, phosphoethanolamine; Thr, threonine; Ser, serine; Asn, asparagine; Glu, glutamate; Gln, glutamine; Sarc, sarcosine; AAAA, α-aminoadipic acid; Gly, glycine; Ala, alanine; Citr, citrulline; Aaba, α-aminobutiric acid; Val, valine; Cys, Cysteine; Met_Cysth, methionine+cystathionine; Ile, isoleucine; Leu, leucine; Tyr, tyrosine; Phe, phenylalanine; Amm, ammonia; Orn, ornithine; Lys, lysine; Mhis_1, 1-metylhistidine; His, histidine; Trp, tryptophane. Full article ">Figure 1 Cont.
Correlation heat maps. (A) Represents the significant correlations (p value < 0.05) between some biochemical parameters and the amino acids quantified in the subjects after pre-processing and imputation of values. (B) Shows the significant correlations (p value < 0.05) between the same amino acids and the mineral levels quantified in the subjects. The color and size of the circle represents the Pearson correlation coefficient. Phser, phosphoserine; Taur, taurine; Pea, phosphoethanolamine; Thr, threonine; Ser, serine; Asn, asparagine; Glu, glutamate; Gln, glutamine; Sarc, sarcosine; AAAA, α-aminoadipic acid; Gly, glycine; Ala, alanine; Citr, citrulline; Aaba, α-aminobutiric acid; Val, valine; Cys, Cysteine; Met_Cysth, methionine+cystathionine; Ile, isoleucine; Leu, leucine; Tyr, tyrosine; Phe, phenylalanine; Amm, ammonia; Orn, ornithine; Lys, lysine; Mhis_1, 1-metylhistidine; His, histidine; Trp, tryptophane. Full article ">

15 pages, 2708 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sulforaphane Reduces the Chronic Inflammatory Immune Response of Human Dendritic Cells

by Laura Fernandez-Prades, Mariano Brasal-Prieto, Gonzalo Alba, Victoria Martin, Sergio Montserrat-de la Paz, Marta Cejudo-Guillen, Consuelo Santa-Maria, Hala Dakhaoui, Beatriz Granados, Francisco Sobrino, Francisca Palomares and Soledad Lopez-Enriquez

Nutrients 2023, 15(15), 3405; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15153405 - 31 Jul 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2375

Abstract

Background: Sulforaphane (SFN) is an isothiocyanate of vegetable origin with potent antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties. The characterization of its pleiotropic activity in human dendritic cells (DCs) is poorly summarized. The aim of this work was to study the immunomodulatory power of SFN in response to an inflammatory microenvironment on human monocyte-derived DCs (moDCs). Methods: We studied the immunological response induced by SFN. Apoptosis and autophagy assays were performed using flow cytometry on moDCs and a cancer cell line (THP-1). These included moDC maturation, lymphocyte proliferation and cytokine production under different experimental conditions. We investigated whether these results were associated with an inflammatory microenvironment induced by lipopolysaccharides (LPSs). Results: Our results demonstrated that SFN could interact with moDCs, significantly reducing the autophagy process and enhancing apoptosis similarly to cancer cell line THP-1 cells in a chronic inflammatory microenvironment. Under chronic inflammation, SFN modulated the phenotypical characteristics of moDCs, reducing the expression of all markers (CD80, CD83, CD86, HLA-DR and PD-L1). SFN significantly reduced the Th2 proliferative response, with a decrease in the IL-9 and IL-13 levels. Although we did not observe any changes in the regulatory proliferative response, we noted an increase in the IL-10 levels. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that SFN exerts protective effects against LPS-induced inflammation via the modulation of moDCs/T cells towards a regulatory profile. SFN may be a potential candidate for the treatment of pathologies with an inflammatory profile. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Nutraceuticals in Immunometabolism)

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Figure 1

Figure 1
(A) Gate strategy followed for a flow cytometry analysis showing necrotic and apoptotic moDCs. (B,C) Necrosis and apoptotic percentages of moDCs (N = 10) under different experimental conditions. PI: propidium iodide; LPS: lipopolysaccharide (100 ng/mL); SFN: sulforaphane (10 µM). The bars with symbols represent the means and standard errors of the percentage of viability, necrosis and apoptosis on moDCs. The Friedman test was used to detect differences in related samples across multiple comparisons, representing significant p-values. The Wilcoxon test was used for pairwise comparisons of related samples, representing significant p-values. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01. Full article ">Figure 2
(A) Histograms representing the mean normalized fluorescence intensity of LC3B under different experimental conditions. (B) Fold change of LC3B on moDCs (N = 10) under different experimental conditions. LPS: lipopolysaccharide (100 ng/mL); SFN: sulforaphane (10 µM). The bars with symbols represent the means and standard errors of the fold changes. The Friedman test was used to detect differences in related samples across multiple comparisons, representing significant p-values. The Wilcoxon test was used for pairwise comparisons of related samples, representing significant p-values. * p < 0.05. Full article ">Figure 3
Fold changes of CD80, CD83, CD86, HLA-DR and PD-L1 on moDCs (N = 12) under different experimental conditions. LPS: lipopolysaccharide (100 ng/mL); SFN: sulforaphane (10 µM). The bars with symbols represent the means and standard errors. The Friedman test was used to detect differences in related samples across multiple comparisons, representing significant p-values. The Wilcoxon test was used for pairwise comparisons of related samples, representing significant p-values. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01. Full article ">Figure 4
(A) Fold changes for the percentages of CFSElow T, Th2, Th9 and Treg cells (N = 8), and (B) ratios of the fold changes of Treg/Th2 and Treg/Th9 under different experimental conditions. LPS: lipopolysaccharide (100 ng/mL); SFN: sulforaphane (10 µM). The bars with symbols represent the means and standard errors. CFSE; 5,6-carboxyfluorescein diacetate N-succinimidyl ester. The Friedman test was used to detect differences in related samples across multiple comparisons, representing significant p-values. The Wilcoxon test was used for pairwise comparisons of related samples, representing significant p-values. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01. Full article ">Figure 5
(A) Fold changes of the concentration for each cytokine (N = 9). (B) Ratios of the fold changes of IL-4/-, IL-5/-, IL-9/-, IL-13/- and IFN-γ/IL-10 under different experimental conditions. LPS: lipopolysaccharide (100 ng/mL); SFN: sulforaphane (10 µM). The bars with symbols represent the means and standard errors. CFSE: 5,6-carboxyfluorescein diacetate N-succinimidyl ester. The Friedman (F) test was used to detect differences in related samples across multiple comparisons, representing significant p-values. The Wilcoxon test was used for pairwise comparisons of related samples, representing significant p-values. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01. Full article ">

Review

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16 pages, 692 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Effects of Malnutrition on the Immune System and Infection and the Role of Nutritional Strategies Regarding Improvements in Children’s Health Status: A Literature Review

by Fátima Morales, Sergio Montserrat-de la Paz, Maria J. Leon and Fernando Rivero-Pino

Nutrients 2024, 16(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16010001 - 19 Dec 2023

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 17055

Abstract

Malnutrition refers to a person’s status as under- or overnourished, and it is usually associated with an inflammation status, which can subsequently imply a different health status, as the risk of infection is increased, along with a deterioration of the immune system. Children’s immune systems are generally more susceptible to problems than adults. In the situation of malnutrition, because malnourished children’s immune systems are compromised, they are more likely to die. However, little is known about the underlying mechanism of altered immune functioning and how it relates to starvation. Nutritional interventions have been reported as cost-effective strategies to prevent or treat the development of malnourishment, considering the link between food intake and health, especially in children, and also the susceptibility of this population to diseases and how their health status during childhood might affect their long-term physiological growth. The ingestion of specific nutrients (e.g., vitamins or oligoelements) has been reported to contribute to the proper functioning of children’s immune systems. In this review, we aim to describe the basis of malnutrition and how this is linked to the immune system, considering the role of nutrients in the modulation of the immune system and the risk of infection that can occur in these situations in children, as well as to identify nutritional interventions to improve their health. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Nutraceuticals in Immunometabolism)

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