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A review of “Dietary Fiber Confers Protection against Flu by Shaping Ly6c-Patrolling Monocyte Hematopoiesis and CD8+ T Cell Metabolism.”

The article is a scientific report on an experiment that illustrates the beneficial outcomes of SCFAs and dietary fiber in protection against infections such as influenza infections. To exemplify this, scientists conduct few experiments on laboratory mice. In the first experiment, they conduct an experiment that shows how the short-chain fatty acids and the fermentable fiber insulin protects against the pathology induced with influenza. The second one shows how short-chain fatty acids alter hematopoiesis by accelerating the bone marrow’s macrophage precursors. In the third experiment the scientists show how the short-chain fatty acids shape the functionality of the macrophage to lessen the damage on the neutrophil-mediated tissue. Ultimately, the last experiment shows how short chain fatty acids enhance the functionality of the CD8 + T cell by altering its metabolism.

An understanding on the beneficial roles that both short-chain fatty acids and dietary fiber have on protecting immunity against infections is very important. From the experiment, it is quite evident that dietary fiber and the short-chain fatty acids have benefits that allow the laboratory mice to control themselves against the influenza infection effectively. Additionally, this involves both dampening and enhancing the immune system’s discrete components such as the immunological tone that is set at a level that allows viral clearance and also avoids excess tissue damage. The scientists also observed that uncontrolled immune responses upon the influenza infection lead to tissue destruction that results in severe mortality and morbidity. However, reducing the neutrophils in the airways in an indirect way, butyrate and dietary fiber prevent both alveolar damage and immunopathology. This was achieved through a mechanism that involves a gut bone marrow-lung that is quite similar to what the scientists described for asthma.

The experiment is quite important as it shows how the effect of short-chain fatty acids and dietary fiber is important in boosting immune systems. It shows how the short-chain fatty acids and dietary fiber can alter the metabolism of the CD8 + T cell to enhance and increase the effector function. Just after stimulation, the CD8 + T cells from the mice fed with the HFD show increased masses on their mitochondria and increased spare respiratory capacity and increased maximal respiration, an indicator of enhanced capacity and capability of using oxidative phosphorylation. Similarly, the glycolytic mass of the mice is increased.

The T cells rely largely on the oxidative phosphorylation pathways so as to produce energy. Therefore, during the effector cell differentiation, cell metabolism switches to glycolysis that enhances the production of metabolic intermediates that are significant for cell proliferation and cell growth. The effector phase is characterized by a high glycolytic rate and the oxidative phosphorylation activities. The effector cells from the mice fed with HFD shows augmented functionality. The CD8 +T cells functional capacity is highly dependent on the availability of glucose and uptake, as Glut-1 is the main transporter of glucose in the T cells that translocate to the surface of the cell upon activation allowing glucose uptake. The mice fed with HFD showed an increased surface expression of the Glut-1, allowing enhance glucose assimilation. The next experiment that scientists should undertake should be conducting a single role of the short-chain fatty acids in preventing infections as they have highlighted a dual role in this experiment.