Journal of Clinical and Cellular Immunology
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9899
ISSN: 2155-9899
Ebenezer Satyaraj
Accepted Abstracts: J Clin Cell Immunol
Nutritional immunology is an emerging discipline that evolved with the study of the detrimental effect of malnutrition on the immune system. While malnutrition still remains a worldwide problem, life-stage [neonate or old age] and natural stress are increasingly becoming the major causes of lowered immune status in both humans and animals. Unlike immunodeficiency caused by malnutrition, life-stage and natural stress need a more comprehensive strategy and cannot be addressed simply by correcting nutritional problems. Lowered immune status because of life-stage or natural stress is characterized by a reduced of antigen presenting cells [APC] function, resulting in a less efficient or altered immune response, leading to increased susceptibility to infections disease, increase in autoimmunity and cancers. Beyond providing essential nutrients, diet can actively influence the immune system. Over 65% of the immune cells in the body are located in the gut, technically making the gut the ?largest immune organ?. The immune receptors of the innate immune system present in the gut are the primary targets of strategies for immunomodulation via diet. Diet interacts with the immune system at multiple levels, starting with providing basic nutrients, moving on to providing higher levels of key nutrients such as protein, vitamins & minerals, leading to a more focused modulation of the immune system. A framework elaborating diet - immune system interaction, with relevant examples will be discussed along with specific examples of how an immune-enhancing ingredient is evaluated, tested and formulated into diets.
Ebenezer Satyaraj graduated with a Masters degree in Medical Microbiology from University of Madras, Madras, India in 1990. He completed his formal education by earning a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Immunology from the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India in 1996. He continued his training at the University of Chicago, Illinois, as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Department of Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology doing research in Molecular Immunology. He subsequently accepted an Instructor?s position at the Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, where he taught Immunology and conducted research in the area of autoimmunity. He joined Nestle Purina in 2003 where he currently serves as Group Manager, Nutritional Immunology at the Nestlé Research Center in St Louis, MO, leading a team that focuses on research in the area of nutritional immunology & cytokine biology. He has authored numerous scientific papers in the areas of cellular/molecular immunology and cytokine biology, including a recent publication in the journal Science that explains size variations in dogs and lectures internationally in the area of Nutritional Immunology. He is a member of the American Association of Immunologist and the American Veterinary Immunology Association, serves on the Editorial Board of ?International Journal of Immunological Studies? and is a reviewer for several journals including British Journal of Nutrition, Arthritis & Rheumatism and Journal of Gerontology