Eating a Western diet impairs the immune system in the gut in ways that could increase the risk of infection and inflammatory bowel disease.
According to a study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Cleveland Clinic, eating a western diet impairs the immune system in the gut in ways that could increase the risk of infection and inflammatory bowel disease.
The study, in mice and people, showed that a diet high in sugar and fat causes damage to Paneth cells, immune cells in the gut that help keep inflammation in check. When Paneth cells aren’t functioning properly, the gut immune system is excessively prone to inflammation, putting people at risk of inflammatory bowel disease and undermining effective control of disease-causing microbes.
Lead author Ta-Chiang Liu, MD, PhD, an associate professor of pathology & immunology at Washington University said, “Our research showed that long-term consumption of a Western-style diet high in fat and sugar impairs the function of immune cells in the gut in ways that could promote inflammatory bowel disease or increase the risk of intestinal infections.”
Further, researchers analysed a database containing demographic and clinical data on 400 people, including an assessment of each person’s Paneth cells. The researchers found that high body mass index (BMI) was associated with Paneth cells that looked abnormal and unhealthy under a microscope.
To better understand this connection, the researchers studied two strains of mice that are genetically predisposed to obesity. Such mice chronically overeat because they carry mutations that prevent them from feeling full even when fed a regular diet. To the researchers’ surprise, the obese mice had Paneth cells that looked normal.
In people, obesity is frequently the result of eating a diet rich in fat and sugar. So, the scientists fed normal mice a diet in which 40 per cent of the calories came from fat or sugar, similar to the typical Western diet.