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Micronutrients and immune functions
Journal of ImmunologicalMethods, 136 (1991) 147 © 1991 ElsevierScience Publishers B.V. (Biomedical Division) 0022-1759/91/$03.50
147
JIM05810 B o o k review
Bendich, A. and Chandra, R.K. (Eds.), Micronutrients and Immune Functions, 320 pp Keusch, G.T., A. Cerami and F. Takaku (Eds.), Cytokines and Metabolism, 62 pp. The New York Academy of Sciences, New York, 1990 (Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., Vol. 587), Cloth-bound (price not listed), ISBN 0-89766-575-9 This volume contains proceedings of a conference held in New York City May 31-June 2, 1989 and papers presented at a symposium sponsored by the Malnutrition Panel of the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, held in New York City on June 2, 1989. The major portion of the text is concerned with the influence of vitamins and trace elements on the immune system. The papers are grouped in five parts. In Part I statistical data are reviewed showing the direct relationship between vitamin A status and resistance to infection. Evidence is evaluated for the enhancement of humoral and cellular immunity by vitamin E, and studies are described on vitamin C protection from the oxidative damage of neutrophil functions and on the restoration of lymphocyte responses to mitogens in the elderly by vitamin B6. Part II comprises papers dealing with the role of micronutrients in pathological states such as tuberculosis, sickle-cell anaemia and cancer. Considerable attention is devoted to the anti-cancer effects of vitamins A and E and of trace metals. There are considerable therapeutic implications in the research report by J.L. Schwartz et al. of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine demonstrating prevention of oral carcinoma in hamsters and mice following local injection of liposomal carotenoids. Current knowledge of the importance of dietary minerals to host defence is the subject of the presentations in part III. The mechanism of immune activation by zinc, the multiple effects of selenium on humoral and
cell-mediated immune responses, the impairment of immune functions by iron or copper deficiency, the immunotoxic properties of lead, and the interactions of vitamins C and E and of vitamin E and selenium in antioxidative protection of lymphocytes and phagocytes are discussed in detail. Special clinical aspects of the micronutrient status, from the subnormal vitamin B6 and zinc levels in HIV-seropositive patients and the restorative action of antioxidant nutrients on immune responsiveness of the aged to dietary intervention in autoimmune disease and the immunosuppressive depletion of antioxidant micronutrients in smokers, are considered in part IV. Finally, the nutritional influence on infant health, the safety evaluation of micronutrients and the future prospects for research in this area are the topics covered in part V. In general the papers vary in length and depth, all are referenced, many are illustrated with tables and graphs, and some with diagrams and photographs. The remainder of the book deals with the physiological effects of certain macrophage secretions. Interest is particularly focused on tumour necrosis factor alpha. For example the cachexia syndrome (anorexia, weight loss, anaemia) induced by chronic exposure to TNF-a, the septic shock syndrome resulting from excessive T N F - a production during fulminating bacterial infection, and the depletion of stored fat due to the suppression of LPL activity by TNF-c~ are all reviewed. Evidence is also described for the induction of anorexia by IL-1 via PGE 2 production that can be reduced by supplemental N-3 fatty acid diets. Experimental and clinical studies on the plasma cholesterollowering activity of monocyte colony-stimulating factor are summarized and the low macrophage function and low IL-1 and T N F - a activities associated with vitamin D deficiency are proposed as an aetiologic factor in senile osteoporosis. F. BOREK
147
JIM05810 B o o k review
Bendich, A. and Chandra, R.K. (Eds.), Micronutrients and Immune Functions, 320 pp Keusch, G.T., A. Cerami and F. Takaku (Eds.), Cytokines and Metabolism, 62 pp. The New York Academy of Sciences, New York, 1990 (Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., Vol. 587), Cloth-bound (price not listed), ISBN 0-89766-575-9 This volume contains proceedings of a conference held in New York City May 31-June 2, 1989 and papers presented at a symposium sponsored by the Malnutrition Panel of the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, held in New York City on June 2, 1989. The major portion of the text is concerned with the influence of vitamins and trace elements on the immune system. The papers are grouped in five parts. In Part I statistical data are reviewed showing the direct relationship between vitamin A status and resistance to infection. Evidence is evaluated for the enhancement of humoral and cellular immunity by vitamin E, and studies are described on vitamin C protection from the oxidative damage of neutrophil functions and on the restoration of lymphocyte responses to mitogens in the elderly by vitamin B6. Part II comprises papers dealing with the role of micronutrients in pathological states such as tuberculosis, sickle-cell anaemia and cancer. Considerable attention is devoted to the anti-cancer effects of vitamins A and E and of trace metals. There are considerable therapeutic implications in the research report by J.L. Schwartz et al. of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine demonstrating prevention of oral carcinoma in hamsters and mice following local injection of liposomal carotenoids. Current knowledge of the importance of dietary minerals to host defence is the subject of the presentations in part III. The mechanism of immune activation by zinc, the multiple effects of selenium on humoral and
cell-mediated immune responses, the impairment of immune functions by iron or copper deficiency, the immunotoxic properties of lead, and the interactions of vitamins C and E and of vitamin E and selenium in antioxidative protection of lymphocytes and phagocytes are discussed in detail. Special clinical aspects of the micronutrient status, from the subnormal vitamin B6 and zinc levels in HIV-seropositive patients and the restorative action of antioxidant nutrients on immune responsiveness of the aged to dietary intervention in autoimmune disease and the immunosuppressive depletion of antioxidant micronutrients in smokers, are considered in part IV. Finally, the nutritional influence on infant health, the safety evaluation of micronutrients and the future prospects for research in this area are the topics covered in part V. In general the papers vary in length and depth, all are referenced, many are illustrated with tables and graphs, and some with diagrams and photographs. The remainder of the book deals with the physiological effects of certain macrophage secretions. Interest is particularly focused on tumour necrosis factor alpha. For example the cachexia syndrome (anorexia, weight loss, anaemia) induced by chronic exposure to TNF-a, the septic shock syndrome resulting from excessive T N F - a production during fulminating bacterial infection, and the depletion of stored fat due to the suppression of LPL activity by TNF-c~ are all reviewed. Evidence is also described for the induction of anorexia by IL-1 via PGE 2 production that can be reduced by supplemental N-3 fatty acid diets. Experimental and clinical studies on the plasma cholesterollowering activity of monocyte colony-stimulating factor are summarized and the low macrophage function and low IL-1 and T N F - a activities associated with vitamin D deficiency are proposed as an aetiologic factor in senile osteoporosis. F. BOREK