- Email: [email protected]
Diet and Human Immune Function
1642
PRINT AND MEDIA REVIEWS
Bottom Line: A useful book with many excellent chapters appropriate for health professionals, policy makers, and others interested in disease prevention or in care of older patients.
WILLIAM D. HEIZER, M.D. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina Diet and Human Immune Function.Edited by David A. Hughes, L. Gail Darlington, Adrianne Bendich. 488 pp. $145.00. Totowa, New Jersey, Humana Press, 2003. ISBN 1-58829206-1. Web address for ordering: www.humanpress.com This book provides an excellent overview of the complicated field of nutrition and immune function. The primary audience for this book would be nutritionists interested in the area of immunology. Written at a basic level, scientists trained in immunology might find the book too superficial, although it would provide a good starting point from which immunologists might gain insights into how to incorporate host nutritional status into their studies. The book begins with an overview on the basics of immunology, followed by a chapter discussing the methods used to assess the human immune response. This is important information for the non-immunologist to have to understand the later chapters that delve into the specifics of nutritional effects on the immune response. Although these chapters are easily understood, it would have been helpful for the authors to include diagrams/figures that would help orient the novice to the complexity of the immune response. Following the general introduction chapters, 3 additional overview chapters are provided to discuss the effects of infection on nutrition and immune status, and the effects of nutrition on the immune status of the neonate and the elderly. These are important chapters, for they remind the reader that the results of nutritional studies utilizing adult populations may not translate into younger or older populations. Following the overview, the book is organized into 4 sections: vitamins and immune responses, minerals and immune responses, nutrition, immunity and disease, and environmental stressors. Both the vitamin and mineral sections are well described. Particularly nice are the chapters that include diagrams of immune function that help to explain the nutritionalimmune interactions (e.g., Figure 1 in the Iron chapter). The inclusion of a chapter on the effects of multivitamin supplementation was an excellent idea. Many studies report single nutrient interactions with the immune response, but clearly multiple vitamin (and mineral) interactions are closer to the real world, where individuals often take multivitamin and mineral supplements. In the Nutrition, Immunity and Disease section, the editors chose to focus on rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, HIV, probiotics, and dietary fat and cancer. Although the editors clearly had to limit the amount of material they could include, perhaps selection of additional models might have more inter-
GASTROENTEROLOGY Vol. 127, No. 5
esting and illustrative. For example, inflammatory bowel disease is an area of high research interest with regard to nutritional effects on immune modulation of this disease. In addition, the chapter on dietary fat should have included a discussion of the role of lipid rafts and their modulation by dietary fat. This is in area of intense research interest, particularly because many immune receptors require lipid rafts for their function. The final section, Environmental Stressors, includes chapters on the effects of exercise, air pollution, drugs, and undernutrition in the context of military training. These sections add a unique component to this book, and demonstrate that the effects of nutrition on the immune response may be different in the context of these other stressors. All of the chapters in this book, with the exception of the introductory one, have a “take-home message” section that provides key points delivered in short bullet summaries. This is quite helpful in summarizing the overall intent and highlights of the chapter. Although a different author(s) wrote each chapter, in general, the writing style is easy to read and comprehend. The tables and figures provided are helpful, although as mentioned previously, more descriptive figures would have increased the usefulness of this book. Overall, this book does a good job of reaching its target audience, and will be useful both for nutritionists, physicians who are interested in understanding the relationship between diet and immune function, as well as immunologists who want to delve into the area of nutrition. It provides enough detail for researchers to get a handle on the field, but provides the information in a clear and easily understandable way. The influence of diet on immune function is a rapidly expanding field as more and more research is carried out in this area. Because nutritionists do not often learn immunology, and because immunologists and infectious disease specialists do not often study nutrition, Diet and Human Immune Function serves a basic primer in this area and provides both specific references and related books and websites for the reader who wishes to study further. Bottom Line: A basic primer on diet and immunity.
MELINDA A. BECK, Ph.D. School of Medicine University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina Molecular Pathogenesis of Cholestasis.Edited by Michael Trauner and Peter L.M. Jansen. 379 pp. €135.00. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer, 2003. 2ISBN 0-3064-8240-1. Web address for ordering: www.wkap.nl This book has the stated aim “to provide a cutting-edge overview on the molecular pathogenesis of cholestasis.” To achieve this aim, the editors solicited 25 chapters from colleagues who have contributed to the explosion of new information and concepts in hepatocellular and cholangiocytic transport and their impairment in cholestatic disease.
PRINT AND MEDIA REVIEWS
Bottom Line: A useful book with many excellent chapters appropriate for health professionals, policy makers, and others interested in disease prevention or in care of older patients.
WILLIAM D. HEIZER, M.D. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina Diet and Human Immune Function.Edited by David A. Hughes, L. Gail Darlington, Adrianne Bendich. 488 pp. $145.00. Totowa, New Jersey, Humana Press, 2003. ISBN 1-58829206-1. Web address for ordering: www.humanpress.com This book provides an excellent overview of the complicated field of nutrition and immune function. The primary audience for this book would be nutritionists interested in the area of immunology. Written at a basic level, scientists trained in immunology might find the book too superficial, although it would provide a good starting point from which immunologists might gain insights into how to incorporate host nutritional status into their studies. The book begins with an overview on the basics of immunology, followed by a chapter discussing the methods used to assess the human immune response. This is important information for the non-immunologist to have to understand the later chapters that delve into the specifics of nutritional effects on the immune response. Although these chapters are easily understood, it would have been helpful for the authors to include diagrams/figures that would help orient the novice to the complexity of the immune response. Following the general introduction chapters, 3 additional overview chapters are provided to discuss the effects of infection on nutrition and immune status, and the effects of nutrition on the immune status of the neonate and the elderly. These are important chapters, for they remind the reader that the results of nutritional studies utilizing adult populations may not translate into younger or older populations. Following the overview, the book is organized into 4 sections: vitamins and immune responses, minerals and immune responses, nutrition, immunity and disease, and environmental stressors. Both the vitamin and mineral sections are well described. Particularly nice are the chapters that include diagrams of immune function that help to explain the nutritionalimmune interactions (e.g., Figure 1 in the Iron chapter). The inclusion of a chapter on the effects of multivitamin supplementation was an excellent idea. Many studies report single nutrient interactions with the immune response, but clearly multiple vitamin (and mineral) interactions are closer to the real world, where individuals often take multivitamin and mineral supplements. In the Nutrition, Immunity and Disease section, the editors chose to focus on rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, HIV, probiotics, and dietary fat and cancer. Although the editors clearly had to limit the amount of material they could include, perhaps selection of additional models might have more inter-
GASTROENTEROLOGY Vol. 127, No. 5
esting and illustrative. For example, inflammatory bowel disease is an area of high research interest with regard to nutritional effects on immune modulation of this disease. In addition, the chapter on dietary fat should have included a discussion of the role of lipid rafts and their modulation by dietary fat. This is in area of intense research interest, particularly because many immune receptors require lipid rafts for their function. The final section, Environmental Stressors, includes chapters on the effects of exercise, air pollution, drugs, and undernutrition in the context of military training. These sections add a unique component to this book, and demonstrate that the effects of nutrition on the immune response may be different in the context of these other stressors. All of the chapters in this book, with the exception of the introductory one, have a “take-home message” section that provides key points delivered in short bullet summaries. This is quite helpful in summarizing the overall intent and highlights of the chapter. Although a different author(s) wrote each chapter, in general, the writing style is easy to read and comprehend. The tables and figures provided are helpful, although as mentioned previously, more descriptive figures would have increased the usefulness of this book. Overall, this book does a good job of reaching its target audience, and will be useful both for nutritionists, physicians who are interested in understanding the relationship between diet and immune function, as well as immunologists who want to delve into the area of nutrition. It provides enough detail for researchers to get a handle on the field, but provides the information in a clear and easily understandable way. The influence of diet on immune function is a rapidly expanding field as more and more research is carried out in this area. Because nutritionists do not often learn immunology, and because immunologists and infectious disease specialists do not often study nutrition, Diet and Human Immune Function serves a basic primer in this area and provides both specific references and related books and websites for the reader who wishes to study further. Bottom Line: A basic primer on diet and immunity.
MELINDA A. BECK, Ph.D. School of Medicine University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina Molecular Pathogenesis of Cholestasis.Edited by Michael Trauner and Peter L.M. Jansen. 379 pp. €135.00. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer, 2003. 2ISBN 0-3064-8240-1. Web address for ordering: www.wkap.nl This book has the stated aim “to provide a cutting-edge overview on the molecular pathogenesis of cholestasis.” To achieve this aim, the editors solicited 25 chapters from colleagues who have contributed to the explosion of new information and concepts in hepatocellular and cholangiocytic transport and their impairment in cholestatic disease.