new paper from our team: "COVID-19: The Inflammation Link and the Role of Nutrition in Potential Mitigation "

COVID-19: The Inflammation Link and the Role of Nutrition in Potential Mitigation 

Nutrients 2020, 12(5), 1466; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12051466 (registering DOI)

 

A reepresentation of the inflammatory molecules involved in infection and how certain dietary components may interact with them. Included are the cytokines, growth factors, and other chemokines that promote the onset and progression of inflammatory manifestations, dysregulation of the immune system, and a diseased state due to the effects of several unmodifiable and modifiable risk factors. Targeted drug treatments and/or healthy lifestyle choices such as balanced diets and physical activity can counterbalance such inflammatory manifestations towards homeostasis.

 

 

by Ioannis Zabetakis ^1,2,*, Ronan Lordan ^2,3, Catherine Norton ^2,4 and Alexandros Tsoupras ^1,2

¹

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick V94 T9PX, Ireland

²

Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick V94 T9PX, Ireland

³

Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-5158, USA

⁴

Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick V94 T9PX, Ireland

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 22 April 2020 / Revised: 11 May 2020 / Accepted: 17 May 2020 / Published: 19 May 2020

 

Abstract

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has engulfed the world, affecting more than 180 countries. As a result, there has been considerable economic distress globally and a significant loss of life. Sadly, the vulnerable and immunocompromised in our societies seem to be more susceptible to severe COVID-19 complications. 

Global public health bodies and governments have ignited strategies and issued advisories on various handwashing and hygiene guidelines, social distancing strategies, and, in the most extreme cases, some countries have adopted “stay in place” or lockdown protocols to prevent COVID-19 spread. Notably, there are several significant risk factors for severe COVID-19 infection. 

These include the presence of poor nutritional status and pre-existing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes mellitus, chronic lung diseases, cardiovascular diseases (CVD), obesity, and various other diseases that render the patient immunocompromised. 

These diseases are characterized by systemic inflammation, which may be a common feature of these NCDs, affecting patient outcomes against COVID-19. 

In this review, we discuss some of the anti-inflammatory therapies that are currently under investigation intended to dampen the cytokine storm of severe COVID-19 infections. Furthermore, nutritional status and the role of diet and lifestyle is considered, as it is known to affect patient outcomes in other severe infections and may play a role in COVID-19 infection. 

This review speculates the importance of nutrition as a mitigation strategy to support immune function amid the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying food groups and key nutrients of importance that may affect the outcomes of respiratory infections.

 

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Keywords: coronavirus; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; inflammation; infection; anti-inflammatory; nutrition; vitamin C; vitamin D; zinc; noncommunicable diseases

 

The background story of this paper is here.