Course Description
Principles of how nutrition interacts with the immune system to affect humans, pet animals, and farm animal productivity and health. Research findings will be presented to understand the mechanisms of nutrition and immune function interaction and the effects of an immune response on nutritional needs.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
All graduate students are expected to either write a ten-page
review article using current and historical literature sources or
give a fifteen-minute oral class presentation on any one of the
following topics:
A. Carbohydrates in nutritional immunology;
B. Proteins in nutritional immunology;
C. Fatty acids in nutritional immunology;
D. Vitamins and minerals in nutritional immunology;
E. Choice of graduate student, but instructor approved.
Athena Title
Nutritional Immunology
Prerequisite
BCMB 3100 or BCMB 3100E or ADSC 3300
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students completing this course should: 1. Gain basic knowledge on principles of how nutrients impact immune function to affect human health and farm animal productivity 2. Understand cellular and molecular mechanisms of nutrient impacts on immune function 3. Understand effects of immune responses on nutritional needs 4. Become aware of current research directions and needs in nutritional immunology
Topical Outline
1. Introduction to Immune System: Components and functions a. Components of an immune response b. Infection: Innate and adaptive immune response c. Mucosal immunology 2. Nutritional cost of immune response a. Changes in metabolism due to an immune response b. Compensatory growth c. Cost of developing an immune response 3. Situations warranting nutritional immunology intervention a. Feed restriction b. Cardiovascular diseases/inflammation c. High blood glucose d. Obesity e. Allergy to food/asthma/autoimmune diseases f. Cancer g. Stress h. Exercise i. Malnutrition j. Aging k. Infections l. Vaccine m. Other minor 4. Nutritional Immunology: Mechanism of interactions a. Protection against immunopathology b. Epigenetics c. Nutritional imprinting or programming d. Cell signaling e. Competing with pathogens for resources f. Substrates for the immune system g. Chelating nutrients that are critical for pathogens h. Indirect modulation 5. Probiotics a. Gut microbiota-introduction to probiotics b. Probiotics-ideal characteristics c. Functions of probiotics (or gut microbiota) d. Probiotics applications e. Genetic engineeering of probiotics 6. Carbohydrates and immune responses a. Glucose b. Fiber c. Prebiotics d. Yeast cell wall products e. Mannan oligosaccharide f. Beta Glucan family 7. Proteins and immune responses a. Arginine b. Glutamine c. Sulphur containing amino acids(Methionine and cysteine)and glutathione d. Tryptophan e. Taurine f. Special proteins g. Nucleotides h. Protein requirement for growth and immune response i. Protein requirement during compensatory growth 8. Fatty acids, inflammation and immunity a. n-3 fatty acids, n-6 fatty acids, n-9 fatty acids, Saturated fatty acids, Trans fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid b. Fatty acids and cytokines c. Short chain fatty acids as prebiotics d. Fatty acids and nuclear hormone receptors 9. Vitamins and immune responses a. Vitamin A b. Vitamin C c. Vitamin E d. Vitamin D e. Other vitamins f. Anti-oxidant and pro-oxidant status during inflammation g. Anti-oxidant vitamins during inflammation 10. Minerals and immune responses a. Major minerals and immune responses b. Trace minerals and immune responses 11. Other strategies a. Passive immunity b. Oral tolerance c. Antibiotics in feed d. Calorie restriction 12. Nutritional modification of immune response for health and production a. Nutritional needs: Pre-infection vs. post-infection b. Favorable nutrition during an ongoing infection c. Favorable nutrition after infection subsides 13. Limitations of applying nutritional immunology
Syllabus