Derived cholesterol metabolites and sIgA production: A novel intriguing link

Abstract

The importance of diet in dynamically shaping the immune response was introduced a few years ago with the concept of 'Immunonutrition', highlighting the ability of selected dietary factors to directly or indirectly modulate the immune system development and function. The main indirect effects are mediated by the gut microbiome (GM), that being the first organ met dietary factors, is strongly influenced by them. Thus, GM modulated by diet, shapes the immune system development and function. 1,2 At the gastrointestinal (GI) tract level, the lymphoid tissue dis-| 261 NEWS & VIEWS: GROUNDBREAKING DISCOVERIES IN CLINICAL AND BASIC SCIENCE sIgA production opens the way for innovative approaches in the immunonutrition field and may also contribute to the dysbiosis development observed in obese patients; but further studies are needed to explore this exciting hypothesis.