Abstract. The intestine and the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) are essential components of whole body immune defense, protecting the ...SkiptomaincontentAdvertisementSearchallBMCarticlesSearchDownloadPDFReviewOpenAccessPublished:30July2013Theimmunemodifyingeffectsofaminoacidsongut-associatedlymphoidtissueMeganRRuth1&CatherineJField1 JournalofAnimalScienceandBiotechnologyvolume 4,Article number: 27(2013)Citethisarticle13kAccesses82Citations3AltmetricMetricsdetailsAbstractTheintestineandthegut-associatedlymphoidtissue(GALT)areessentialcomponentsofwholebodyimmunedefense,protectingthebodyfromforeignantigensandpathogens,whileallowingtolerancetocommensalbacteriaanddietaryantigens.Therequirementforproteintosupporttheimmunesystemiswellestablished.Lessisknownregardingtheimmunemodifyingpropertiesofindividualaminoacids,particularlyontheGALT.Bothoralandparenteralfeedingstudieshaveestablishedconvincingevidencethatnotonlythetotalproteinintake,buttheavailabilityofspecificdietaryaminoacids(inparticularglutamine,glutamate,andarginine,andperhapsmethionine,cysteineandthreonine)areessentialtooptimizingtheimmunefunctionsoftheintestineandtheproximalresidentimmunecells.Theseaminoacidseachhaveuniquepropertiesthatinclude,maintainingtheintegrity,growthandfunctionoftheintestine,aswellasnormalizinginflammatorycytokinesecretionandimprovingT-lymphocytenumbers,specificTcellfunctions,andthesecretionofIgAbylaminapropriacells.Ourunderstandingofthisareahascomefromstudiesthathavesupplementedsingleaminoacidstoamixedproteindietandmeasuringtheeffectonspecificimmuneparameters.FuturestudiesshouldbedesignedusingaminoacidmixturesthattargetanumberofspecificfunctionsofGALTinordertooptimizeimmunefunctionindomesticanimalsandhumansduringcriticalperiodsofdevelopmentandvariousdiseasestates.IntroductionItiswellestablishedthatproteindeficiencysuppressestheimmuneresponseandincreasessusceptibilitytoinfection.Infact,proteinenergymalnutritionishypothesizedtobetheleadingcontributortoimmunedeficiencyglobally[1].Alth