Cited by 52Infant Nutrition and HealthBirth, Development, and HealthImmune responses and vaccinations

They are what you eat: Can nutritional factors during gestation and early infancy modulate the neonatal immune response?

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Prentice, Sarah·2017·Frontiers in Immunology

Abstract

The ontogeny of the human immune system is sensitive to nutrition even in the very early embryo, with both deficiency and excess of macro- and micronutrients being potentially detrimental. Neonates are particularly vulnerable to infectious disease due to the immaturity of the immune system and modulation of nutritional immunity may play a role in this sensitivity. This review examines whether nutrition around the time of conception, throughout pregnancy, and in early neonatal life may impact on the developing infant immune system.

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Crossref · 10.3389/fimmu.2017.01641

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  • In babies and infants, breast milk is the major nutritional influence and is formulated to ensure that nutritional needs are met.

    “In babies and infants, breast milk is the major nutritional influence and is formulated to ensure that nutritional needs are met [49,71].”
  • The concentrations of certain micronutrients in breastmilk (e.g., calcium, magnesium, and copper) are regulated by maternal homeostatic mechanisms (i.e., independent of maternal nutritional status and diet) to ensure they are sufficient to meet infant needs and to protect them against deficiency or excess.

    “The concentrations of certain micronutrients in breastmilk (e.g., calcium, magnesium, and copper) are regulated by maternal homeostatic mechanisms (i.e., independent of maternal nutritional status and diet) to ensure they are sufficient to meet infant needs [72] and to protect them against deficiency or excess [71,73,74,75].”
  • The excretion of fat- and water-soluble micronutrients (e.g., vitamin A, and vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12, and C, respectively) into breast milk is dependent on maternal intake and varies worldwide.

    “In contrast, the excretion of fat- and water-soluble micronutrients (e.g., vitamin A, and vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12, and C, respectively) into breast milk is dependent on maternal intake and varies worldwide [71,74,75].”
  • Breastmilk contains various immunological components such as antibodies (e.g., antigen-specific IgA), anti-inflammatory cytokines and other antimicrobial factors, but also most of the micronutrients necessary to support neonatal development, including of the immune system.

    “Breastmilk contains various immunological components such as antibodies (e.g., antigen-specific IgA), anti-inflammatory cytokines and other antimicrobial factors, but also most of the micronutrients necessary to support neonatal development, including of the immune system [49,71].”
  • A low vitamin C status also increases susceptibility to infections such as pneumonia, possibly because low levels of antioxidants such as vitamin C are unable to counteract the oxidative stress observed in pneumonia.

    “A low vitamin C status also increases susceptibility to infections such as pneumonia [71], possibly because low levels of antioxidants such as vitamin C are unable to counteract the oxidative stress observed in pneumonia [104].”

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Authors
Prentice, S.
Affiliations
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
Corresponding author
Prentice, Sarah
Venue
Frontiers in Immunology
Published
2017-11-28
Volume
8
Pages
1641-1641
ISSN
1664-3224 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2769755851
Cited by
52
References
318
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1
FWCI
0.53
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Frontiers in Immunology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • LSHTM Research Online (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Wellcome Trust (ITCRZB84)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Infant Nutrition and Health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immune responses and vaccinations
Keywords
maternal nutrition, pregnancy, early infancy, neonatal immune system, immune ontogeny, nutritional immunity, micronutrients, macronutrients, neonatal infection susceptibility, maternal diet

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