Immunonutrition : Interactions of Diet, Genetics, and Inflammation

The interaction of immune function and nutrition underlies the low-grade chronic inflammation involved in the etiology of many common obesity-associated and age-related chronic disease conditions. This close interaction is the genesis of the term immunonutrition, which represents a new interdisciplinary field of nutritional and medical research. Immunonutrition: Interactions of Diet, Genetics, and Inflammation introduces the breadth of this field, which implicates nutrition in both immune function and in the etiology, prevention, and treatment of common diseases influenced by inflammation and immune imbalance, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, autoimmune diseases, and common forms of cancer.

The book begins by reviewing the basic mechanisms of immunity and cellular mechanisms of cytokine activation. It discusses the effects of dietary fat intake and changes in Western diet and lifestyle linked to inflammation. It also describes the interaction of genetics and environment in the modulation of immune function and inflammation, and addresses exercise and skeletal muscle as an endocrine and immune organ. The book reviews the entire spectrum of inflammation and cancer from causation to its role in tumor therapy. It examines abdominal obesity and metabolic diseases, interactions between nutrition and autoimmunity in systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammation associated with type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and asthma.

Considering potential nutrition-based treatments, the book explores approaches for reducing abdominal obesity, anti-inflammatory effects of phytochemicals, practical strategies for increasing fruit and vegetable intake, and anti-inflammatory properties of spice phytonutrients. In addition, it explores how uninformed food choices related to fats and oils create a balance of tissue-selective signals that produce harmful health outcomes and how to restore a healthy balance.

David Heber, MD, PhD, FACP, FACN, is the director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has been on the faculty of the UCLA School of Medicine since 1978 and is currently professor of medicine and public health. Dr. Heber is board certified in internal medicine and endocrinology and metabolism by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is certified as a physician nutrition specialist. He is a former chair of the Medical Nutrition Council of the American Society of Nutrition. He has written more than 230 peer-reviewed scientific articles and 60 book chapters, as well as three professional texts. He has written four books for the public, including What Color Is Your Diet? (Harper Collins/Regan Books, 2001) and the L.A. Shape Diet (Harper Collins/Regan Books, 2004). His main research interests are obesity prevention and treatment and phytonutrients in cancer prevention and treatment.

Bharat B. Aggarwal, PhD, is a Ransom Horne, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Cancer Research, Professor of Cancer Medicine, Professor of Immunology, Professor of Biochemistry, and Professor of Experimental Therapeutics, as well as Chief, Cytokine Research Section, in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. He has been investigating the role of inflammatory pathways mediated through TNF, NF-kappaB, and STAT3 for the prevention and therapy of cancer and other chronic diseases. While searching for novel and safe anti-inflammatory agents, his group has identified more than 50 novel compounds from dietary sources and from traditional medicine, some of which are now in clinical trials. Dr. Aggarwal has published more than 600 papers in peer-reviewed international journals (including Science, Nature, Cancer Cell, Blood, and Cancer Discovery), invited reviews, book chapters, and a book entitled Healing Spices (released in January 2011 by Sterling). His lifetime h-index is 112; nine of his papers have been cited over 1,000 times and twenty-five more than 500 times (the total number of citations exceed 70,000). He is an inventor/co-inventor of over 33 patents and currently serves as a member of the editorial boards of 24 international journals.