Host nutrition and infectious disease: an ecological view

Abstract

Nutrition is typically discussed in terms of maintaining a proper diet and avoiding nutrient deficiency diseases. However, nutrition can also be viewed from an ecological standpoint: mammalian hosts and their pathogens share a wide range of resource needs that are required to support normal metabolism and growth. The development of an infectious disease within a host involves the processes of invasion and resource consumption. Competition for growth-limiting resources can potentially occur between the invading pathogen and the cellular components of the host. Experimental studies confirm that nutrients can have profound effects on a host's response to an infection, and taking an ecological view of host nutrition may help to further inform biomedical practice.