Intestinal Immune Regulation as a Potential Diet-Modifiable Feature of Gut Inflammation and Autoimmunity

Abstract

The gastrointestinal tract represents the largest immune interface with the environment. Exposure to large numbers of dietary and microbial antigens requires complex and highly regulated intestinal immune responses by different immune cell types for the maintenance of oral tolerance. Defective immune homeostasis can cause gut barrier dysfunction and breakdown of tolerance, leading to chronic inflammation and autoimmunity. In this review, we summarize the key immune cell populations involved in oral tolerance. We also describe diet-modifiable aspects of gut immunity that alter the intricate balance between inflammatory and tolerogenic immune responses in the gut and contribute to disease development.

Keywords :

• gut
• macrophages
• dendritic cells
• regulatory T cells
• diet
• inflammation
• type 1 diabetes
• celiac disease
• oral tolerance

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The studies performed in the laboratory of FWS were funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canadian Diabetes Association. BS was supported by graduate scholarships from the Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec and an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. CP was the recipient of an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. We thank Dr. Alexander Strom and Dr. Gen-Sheng Wang for helpful comments and discussions.