About this Research Topic

Background

Dietary habits and nutrients are gaining increasing recognition as modifiable factors influencing respiratory health. Food components including vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and bioactive compounds like flavonoids, through their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, have been associated with ameliorated lung function and attenuated viral infections. To illustrate this, multiple studies show that the Mediterranean diet, known for its emphasis on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and olive oil, has a beneficial effect on respiratory health.

Furthermore, the dynamic interplay between diet and lungs appears to revolve around the immune system, making immune interactions a central topic of discussion. The substantial influence of the gut microbiota becomes evident when considering that approximately 70-80% of immune cells reside in the gut. Hence, the gut microbiota emerges as a crucial mediator of the impact of food on health, including respiratory health. Gut dysbiosis is believed to be associated with the etiology of respiratory/lung diseases, such as asthma, COPD, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and lung cancer. Microbiota-derived metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced from the fermentation of non-digestible carbohydrates have been reported to regulate gut inflammation. Probiotics, SCFAs, bioactive compounds and dietary fiber, as well as restricted dietary patterns, have been shown to reduce gut inflammation and play a protective role in respiratory diseases. However, the exact mechanisms underlying these processes are still to be unravelled.

This Research Topic therefore intends to cover all aspects relating to the links between nutrition and respiratory health and disease. In particular, we welcome exploration of the interplay between diet and the gut-lung axis, and how these interactions modulate respiratory health.

Topics to be covered within this Research Topic are (but are not limited to):
• Association between diet and nutrition and respiratory health and disease.
• Mechanisms by which dietary factors may modulate progression of lung and respiratory diseases.
• Understanding of the interrelationship between respiratory diseases, gut microbiota, and the effects of nutrients and bioactive compounds.
• Understanding of how nutrients, dietary patterns, bioactive compounds and probiotics may rectify gut dysbiosis and/or gut barrier permeability and contribute to respiratory health or disease prevention through the gut microbiome modulation.
• Understanding how diet and/or food components influence bacterial metabolites, and ultimately lung function
• Personalized medicine through diet intervention to improve clinical outcomes of lung disease patients.
We welcome proposals ranging from original research to review articles to contribute to a deeper understanding of these critical connections.

Keywords: lung health, respiratory health, gut-lung axis, asthma, COVID-19, lung cancer, COPD, bronchitis, lungs, lung, breathing, gut health, respiratory disease

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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