Key Points
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Infant nutrition, including breast-milk, formula milk and solid weaning foods, is a key determinant of early microbial community structure that influences development of protective immunity and seems to affect health throughout life
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Diet-induced dysbiosis changes the species composition of the gut microbiota and leads to immune-mediated inflammatory and metabolic diseases
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Diet influences the postnatal development of innate and adaptive defences at the mucosal barrier surface and affects intestinal barrier function
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A triad of diet, the microbiota and the immune system regulates postnatal intestinal homeostasis and host physiology, which has consequences through to adulthood
Abstract
Neonates face unique challenges in the period following birth. The postnatal immune system is in the early stages of development and has a range of functional capabilities that are distinct from the mature adult immune system. Bidirectional immune–microbial interactions regulate the development of mucosal immunity and alter the composition of the microbiota, which contributes to overall host well-being. In the past few years, nutrition has been highlighted as a third element in this interaction that governs host health by modulating microbial composition and the function of the immune system. Dietary changes and imbalances can disturb the immune–microbiota homeostasis, which might alter susceptibility to several autoimmune and metabolic diseases. Major changes in cultural traditions, socioeconomic status and agriculture are affecting the nutritional status of humans worldwide, which is altering core intestinal microbial communities. This phenomenon is especially relevant to the neonatal and paediatric populations, in which the microbiota and immune system are extremely sensitive to dietary influences. In this Review, we discuss the current state of knowledge regarding early-life nutrition, its effects on the microbiota and the consequences of diet-induced perturbation of the structure of the microbial community on mucosal immunity and disease susceptibility.
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Acknowledgements
N.J. would like to acknowledge the support of the Charles King Trust/Charles Hood Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. W.A.W. would like to acknowledge the support of grants P30 DK040561, P01 DK33506, R01 HD012447 and R01 HD059126.
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N.J. and W.A.W. researched data for the article and N.J. wrote the article. N.J. and W.A.W. contributed equally to discussions of the content and to reviewing the manuscript before submission.
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Jain, N., Walker, W. Diet and host–microbial crosstalk in postnatal intestinal immune homeostasis. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 12, 14–25 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2014.153
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2014.153
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