Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Seville, 41009 Sevilla, Spain.
Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Center of Biotechnology, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
Nutrients. 2023 Dec 19;16(1):1. doi: 10.3390/nu16010001.
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.
营养不良是指一个人营养不足或过剩的状态，通常与炎症状态有关，这可能会导致不同的健康状况，因为感染的风险增加了，免疫系统也会恶化。儿童的免疫系统通常比成年人更容易出现问题。在营养不良的情况下，由于营养不良的儿童免疫系统受损，他们更容易死亡。然而，人们对改变免疫功能的潜在机制及其与饥饿的关系知之甚少。考虑到食物摄入与健康之间的联系，特别是在儿童中，以及这一人群对疾病的易感性以及他们在童年时期的健康状况如何影响他们的长期生理发育，营养干预被认为是预防或治疗营养不良发展的具有成本效益的策略。摄入特定的营养素（例如维生素或微量营养素）已被报道有助于儿童免疫系统的正常运作。在这篇综述中，我们旨在描述营养不良的基础以及它与免疫系统的关系，同时考虑营养素在免疫系统调节中的作用以及儿童在这些情况下可能发生的感染风险，并确定改善其健康的营养干预措施。
