The quality of energy- and macronutrient-balanced diets regulates host susceptibility to influenza in mice

Taylor A Cootes; Nayan D Bhattacharyya; Susie S Y Huang; Lina Daniel; Kim S Bell-Anderson; Sebastian A Stifter; Tracy Chew; Samantha M Solon-Biet; Luis R Saraiva; Yi Cai; Xinchun Chen; Stephen J Simpson; Carl G Feng

doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111638

The quality of energy- and macronutrient-balanced diets regulates host susceptibility to influenza in mice

Cell Rep. 2022 Nov 15;41(7):111638. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111638.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Immunology and Host Defense Group, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Tuberculosis Research Program, Centenary Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
² Sidra Medicine, 26999 Doha, Qatar; Division of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
³ Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁴ Sydney Informatics Hub, Core Research Facilities, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁵ Sidra Medicine, 26999 Doha, Qatar; College of Health and Life Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar; Monell Chemical Senses Center, 3500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
⁶ Guangdong Key Laboratory of Regional Immunity and Diseases, Department of Pathogen Biology, Shenzhen University School of Medicine, Shenzhen, China.
⁷ Immunology and Host Defense Group, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Tuberculosis Research Program, Centenary Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; The University of Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: carl.feng@sydney.edu.au.

PMID: 36384123
DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111638

Abstract

Modulation of individual macronutrients or caloric density is known to regulate host resistance to infection in mice. However, the impact of diet composition, independent of macronutrient and energy content, on infection susceptibility is unclear. We show that two laboratory rodent diets, widely used as standard animal feeds and experimental controls, display distinct abilities in supporting mice during influenza infection. Mice placed on the highly processed AIN93G showed increased mortality to infection compared with those on a grain-based chow diet, suggesting a detrimental role for highly processed food in host defense. We further demonstrate that the heightened susceptibility of AIN93G-fed mice was associated with the failure in homeostasis restoration mediated by the cytokine interferon (IFN)-γ. Our findings show that diet composition calibrates host survival threshold by regulating adaptive homeostasis and highlights a pivotal role for extrinsic signals in host phenotype and outcome of host-pathogen interaction.

Keywords: AIN93G; CP: Immunology; CP: Microbiology; IFN-γ; control diet; diet; homeostasis; infection; influenza; laboratory animal feed; ultra-processed food.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Diet
Humans
Influenza, Human*
Mice
Nutrients