Sodium and its manifold impact on our immune system

The Western diet is rich in salt, and a high salt diet (HSD) is suspected to be a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. It is now widely accepted that an experimental HSD can stimulate components of the immune system, potentially exacerbating certain autoimmune diseases, or alternatively, improvi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in immunology 2021-06, Vol.42 (6), p.469-479
Main Authors: Jobin, Katarzyna, Müller, Dominik N., Jantsch, Jonathan, Kurts, Christian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antimicrobial agents
antimicrobial defense
Autoimmune diseases
Bone marrow
Cardiovascular diseases
Cutaneous leishmaniasis
Diet
glucocorticoids
Health risks
Hypertension
Immune system
Infections
Kidneys
leishmaniasis
Listeriosis
Lymphocytes
macrophages
microbiome
Microbiota
neutrophils
NFAT5
Pyelonephritis
Risk analysis
Risk factors
Salt
Skin
Sodium
T cells
Transcription factors
Vector-borne diseases
Water conservation
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Summary:The Western diet is rich in salt, and a high salt diet (HSD) is suspected to be a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. It is now widely accepted that an experimental HSD can stimulate components of the immune system, potentially exacerbating certain autoimmune diseases, or alternatively, improving defenses against certain infections, such as cutaneous leishmaniasis. However, recent findings show that an experimental HSD may also aggravate other infections (e.g., pyelonephritis or systemic listeriosis). Here, we discuss the modulatory effects of a HSD on the microbiota, metabolic signaling, hormonal responses, local sodium concentrations, and their effects on various immune cell types in different tissues. We describe how these factors are integrated, resulting either in immune stimulation or suppression in various tissues and disease settings. A HSD can stimulate local tissue-specific accumulation of sodium in mice and humans.Increases in sodium concentration can amplify inflammatory macrophage and T cell responses in mice and humans.A HSD can affect systemic immune responses by altering the intestinal microbiome and its immunomodulatory metabolites in mice and humans.A HSD can systemically suppress neutrophil-mediated immune responses by causing hyperglucorticoidism without diurnal rhythm in mice and humans.The effect of a HSD on immunity is dependent on the tissue/organ affected, the type of immune cells implicated, and the presence and type of disease.
ISSN:1471-4906
1471-4981
DOI:10.1016/j.it.2021.04.002