How Micronutrients Fuel Immune System At the Molecular Level: An Approach to the Immune Response Against Respiratory Viruses

Abstract

Viral respiratory infections could range from a common cold to severe pneumonia, and their resolution mainly relies on appropriate immune system function. The widespread popular knowledge that nutritional habits influence immune system function has been demonstrated over the past decades in which increasing scientific evidence unveils certain nutrients as critical drivers of immunity. Micronutrients encompass minerals and vitamins necessary for a broad range of biological processes; since their deficiency could cause several clinical manifestations, such as weakness, growth retardation, and susceptibility to infections; hence, micronutrients represent one of the multiple factors that modulate immune function. Among micronutrients are those that act mainly as antioxidants, regulating gene expression and as a structural part of proteins for their proper function. Here, we review how some of the most recognized micronutrients are participating at the molecular level in each step of the innate and adaptive immune response against viruses focusing on viral respiratory tract infections, such as those caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2).