Gut Flora, Nutrition, Immunity and Health encompasses the basic principles of nutrition, gut microecology and immunology, and discusses the way in which this knowledge may be used to explain the positive and negative effects of food consumption, metabolism, probiotics and prebiotics.

Food hypersensitivity and allergic reactions, carcinogenesis, and the role of nutrition in the reduced immunity of the aged are also discussed in detail.

Contents

The Intestinal Microflora

• From Petri dish to polyacrylamide gel
• Catalogs show diversity
• A phoenix arises
• Is it all the same in the end?
• The formative years
• Rules and regulations

Food and the Large Intestine

• The large intestine
• Effect of diet on the colonic microflora
• Bacterial growth substrates in the large intestine
• Breakdown of complex carbohydrates by intestinal bacteria
• Protein breakdown by gut microorganisms
• Short-chain fatty acids
• Lactate formation by gut microorganisms

The Health Benefits of Probiotics and Prebiotics

• Probiotics
• Prebiotics
• Defined health outcomes of probiotics and prebiotics

Intestinal Microflora and Metabolic Activity

• Dietary carbohydrates
• Bacterial fermentation
• SCFA production
• SCFA and electrolytes absorption
• Colonic metabolism
• Physiological consequences of SCFA absorption
• Probiotics and the intestinal metabolism of carbohydrates

The Role of the Immune System

• Overview of the immune system
• Education of lymphocytes in the primary lymphoid organs
• The immune system functioning
• Endogenous regulation of the immune response

Behaviour of the Immune System in Eating Disorders

• Relationship between nutrition and the immune system
• The immune system in eating disorders

Mucosal Immune System and Malnutrition

• Mucosal immunity
• Organized mucosal lymphoid tissues
• Antigen uptake
• Tolerance to food
• Effect of nutritional factors on the microenvironment of mucosal immune system
• Nutrition and immunity
• Probiotics in malnutrition
• Protein malnutrition and immune response
• Effects of probiotic addition to a renutrition diet

Immune Activation Versus Hyporesponsiveness and Tolerance in the Gut

• Innate and adaptative immunity
• Antigen and the T cell response
• Antigen-presenting cells in the GIT
• T cell function in the GIT
• Turnover of T cells
• Intestinal epithelial cells
• Peyer's pathes - suppression of T cell responsiveness
• Probiotic bacteria
• Immune activation by probiotic bacteria feeding
• Probiosis

Food Hypersensitivity and Allergic Diseases

• Immunological mechanisms
• Food allergens
• Clinical manifestations
• Identification of high risk infants for prevention
• Preventive measures
• Management of food allergy

Nutritional and Microbial Modulation of Carcinogenesis

• Bacteria and cancer overview
• Bacterial metabolites
• Reduced exposure to toxic compounds
• Formation of toxic and protective agents during fermentation
• Probiotics, prebiotics and cancer

The Role of Nutrition in Immunity of the Aged

• Aging and immune function
• Nutritional regulation of immune function of the aged

Index

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