Impact of High Fiber and Vegetal Protein Diet on Gut Health and Immunity Biomarkers in Prediabetic Patients

The research area that focuses on the links between nutrition and health, nutrition and the immune system as well as nutrition-related public health interventions, which often falls into the gap between the agricultural and health domains. The rationale of this project is to study the influence of beneficial diets on the immune system of pre-diabetic patients and its potential to counteract infections. A clinical, an in vitro (cell systems) and an in vivo (animal model) approach will be used to study the influence of a seaweed bioactive supplement and a diet rich in components from a Mediterranean diet on a Salmonella typhimurium infection in prediabetic subjects. At the end of this project, we will provide evidence on the potential of these nutritional interventions to counteract infection, which are of high relevance to the society to reduce the burden of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and obesity. This research is part of an ongoing research project funded by the Research State Agency (Spain), Health Research Board (HRB, Ireland) and the Medical Research Council (MRC-UKRI, UK) via the NUTRIMMUNE' Grant of the Joint Programming Initiative a Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life (JPI-HDHL).